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For a brief moment, it was the robot king of Mars. Then it shut down unexpectedly and was lost for good.
在某一短暂的时刻，它曾是火星上的机器人之王。然而它却出人意料地关闭了，永远地消失了。
Back in 1971 the Soviet lander Mars 3 scored the first soft landing on the Red Planet. But it operated for only about 15 seconds and then failed. Since that time, Mars 3 has been little more than an historic interplanetary paperweight, its exact resting place unknown.
早在1971年，苏联的火星探测器“火星3号”首次实现在这颗红色行星上软着陆。然而它只运行了15秒钟便失效了。自此，火星3号仅仅只是历史性的记载而已，它所在的位置至今无人知晓。
Now a team of amateur researchers may have located the defunct lander. Using imagery taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007, the searchers spotted an object that could be Mars 3. Nearby they also turned up what may be the lander's descent module and heat shield, as well as an unusually bright spot that could be the parachute. All four items are in the expected landing area.
目前，一个业余研究团队或许找出了这次失败登陆的地点。研究人员观察美航局火星侦查卫星于2007年拍摄的图片，发现了一个可能是“火星3号”的物体。在附近，他们还发现了可能是探测器下降的登陆舱和隔热板，还发现了一个不同寻常的亮点——可能是降落伞。这四项全都在预期的着陆区内。
A follow-up photo of the region acquired by the NASA orbiter in March has strengthened the case. But the researchers will keep poring over the available imagery to make sure. Unfortunately there's no way to get a closer look. Because the current robot king of Mars, the Curiosity rover, is thousands of kilometers away.
美航局轨道卫星于3月获取的一张该区域的后续照片更加强化了这个观点。但研究人员会继续观察可利用的图片来做进一步证实。不幸的是，没有办法做近距离观看。因为如今的火星机器人之王“好奇号探测车”在数千公里以外。
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