火星极地冰盖正融化

Huge sections of the ice around the south pole of Mars are melting in this summer's warm weather.

在这个夏日炎热的天气里，火星南极周围的巨大冰面正融化。

The ice cap - made of solid carbon dioxide at temperatures as low as -143 - 'boils' every summer (or, more correctly, 'sublimates' directly from solid form to gas), leaving huge pits in the Martian polar ice.

低至零下142度的气温下，由固体二氧化碳形成的冰冠每个夏天都会“沸腾”（或者更准确地说是从固体直接“升华”成气体），并在火星的极地冰里留下巨大的凹点。

The 'gold' pits isn't likely to be ferried back to Earth, though - scientists remain unsure of the chemical composition of the yelllow, shimmering dust that lines the pit walls every 'summer'.

可是那些在凹点的金线不太可能被带回地球，所以科学家还不能确定这在每个“夏天”都在凹点排成线而且发光的黄色灰尘的化学成分。

Martian summers are rather chilly in comparison to our own - the temperature usually remains below zero degrees centigrade. It's still 'warm' enough, relatively speaking, to make the 'dry ice' of the polar ice caps boil off.

火星的夏天跟我们的相比非常寒冷，气温通常保持在零摄氏度以下。相对将极地的冰冠气化成“干冰”，这样的温度仍然足够“温暖了”。

Part of the fascination of Mars for both scientists and writers has always been how similar the planet's weather is to ours - with seasons, currents, and polar ice caps. Mars has no surface water, however.

科学家和作家都对火星着迷的部分是，火星的气候、季节、气流和极地冰冠和地球非常相似但是不同的是，火星表面没有水。

Scientists often study Mars's weather in the hope of better understanding our own. There have also been academic studies into the feasibility of 'mining' Mars for precious metals - but the academics concluded glumly that it was unlikely we would ever find enough to make it worth the trip.

科学家们经常研究火星的天气，希望可以更好地理解地球的天气。也有一些探讨在火星开采贵金属可行性的学术报告，然而学术结论是令人郁闷的，因为采得的数量还不够我们往返的路费。

The picture here was taken by HiRise - the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, one of the largest telescopes in deep space. It is mapping the surface of Mars from an altitude of 300km from the safety of the Mars Orbiter - and has even taken 3D pictures of the surface of the planet.

这张照片是由HiRise（最大的外太空望远镜之一）的高分辨率成像科学实验拍摄的。它从高度300km的火星人造卫星上绘制出火星表面的图像，它曾经还绘制出这个星球表面的3D图片。