“Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, ‘Why is the sky blue?’, ‘Why do the stars twinkle?’, ‘Why am I me?’, and I still do. I had so many questions, and America is the place where I want to find my answers. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much. ”
美国新一代火星车命名为好奇号(Curiosity)
美国国家航空航天局(NASA-宇航局)2009年5月27日宣布，美国下一代大型火星登陆车“火星科学实验室”已采用堪萨斯州小学6年级12岁的学生克拉拉.马(Clara Ma)的建议，命名为“好奇”(Curiosity)号。
自2008年11月以来，美国宇航局即向全国5-18岁学生开展为火星车命名的活动。至2009年1月25日截止日期，共有9000多名学生由互联网或邮件呈交了他们的命名提议与短文。经过评选，克拉拉.马以“好奇”(Curiosity)命名提议而得胜。作为奖励，她将受邀前往美国宇航局在加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳市(Pasadena, Calif)的喷气推进实验室(JPL)，在该火星车上签署自己的姓名。
美国宇航局计划于2011年将此新一代火星登陆车“好奇”号发射到火星。在火星表面著陆后，它将对火星进行更深入的探测，以查明火星是否存在适宜生命存在的自然环境。携带比过去火星车更为先进探测设备的“好奇”号，具有在火星表面更强大的行驶能力。它将为今后美国火星探测研究项目作出更大的贡献。
下面是克拉拉.马呈交给的美国国家航空航天局，为“火星科学实验室”所写短文“好奇”的原文与华文翻译：
“Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, ‘Why is the sky blue?’, ‘Why do the stars twinkle?’, ‘Why am I me?’, and I still do. I had so many questions, and America is the place where I want to find my answers. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much. ”
“好奇心像是人类思维境界里燃烧着的永恒火焰。我每天早晨起床后，好奇地想知道生活将出现那些奇妙事物。好奇是一种强大的力量。没有它，我们就不会有今天的成就。当我较小时，我感到奇怪， ‘为什么天空是蓝色的？ ‘ ，’为什么星星会闪烁？ ‘ ， ‘为什么我是这个样子？ ‘ ，至今我还对这些事实好奇无比。我有那么多的疑问，而美国是我要寻求答案的天地。好奇心带动我们生活的激情。为了解答疑问和探索奇妙的自然，我们成为探险家和科学家。是的，我们面对着许多艰难险阻，但尽管如此，我们仍然继续心怀好奇与梦想，勇于创造并充满着希望。我们已发现了世界无数奇妙的事物，但仍然只是浩瀚宇宙之点滴。我们永远难以如愿地了解一切，但是，满怀燃烧着的好奇心，我们已经探知宇宙的许多深广奥秘。”
(黄达维 2009年5月于美国)
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