顾此失彼银根紧，战神让位望远镜
有限预算之下NASA不得不做出选择
为保全新一代詹姆斯韦伯太空望远镜这个大项目 火星探险只好缩水
Hints:
NASA
Paul Rincon
Science editor
BBC News
James Webb Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
Notes: 包括地球在内的星球名称首字母都要大写；文中有一处连字符
主持&翻译：haifaforever
校对：早安Miki
答疑：Vechosyhttp://t1.g.hjfile.cn/listen/201202/201202250449038862453.mp3But first, the US space agency NASA has just announced its budget plans for the coming year.
"NASA and the nation embarked upon an ambitious journey to take us farther into space than ever before. As we reach out and explore the beyond, we'll create new jobs right here on Earth. Innovative, cutting-edge research and development in aeronautics and space technology will fuel the American economy far into the future."
Well, what we didn't hear there in that flashy presentation is that the plans will slash proposed spending on Mars exploration, and will likely mean the cancellation of an ambitious joint mission with Europe. In the current economic climate it is no surprise that some programmes are gonna have to be cut. But what does this actually mean? Well, we are joined by Paul Rincon, Science editor from the BBC News website, who's been following the story. Paul, so where is NASA gonna spend its money then?
"Although they've got a flat budget, they've got a ballooning flagship project called the James Webb Space Telescope, which is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. That budget for that has ballooned to about $2 billion. So it has to pay for that amid its flat budget and that means that other projects that NASA has on the go have to be cut, and the biggest loser in this budget is planetary science and those are the kinds of missions that send robotic explorers, rovers or satellites to Mars or other planetary bodies. And that's taken a huge hit. But the Mars, a component of that, has taken the biggest hit of all and that's down by 40%. And that means that NASA won't be able to do joint missions with Europe to go to Mars and explore the surface of Mars that they planned to do."首先让我们来关注这则消息，美国太空机构NASA刚刚宣布了未来新一年内的财政预算方案。
“国家航空航天局携手全美已经踏上旅程，这段旅途志在高远，将引领我们走向人类从未触及的太空更深处。在竭力拓展、探索未知的前方的同时，在地球上我们也将创造新的工作机会。航空与空间技术领域的创新性前沿研发活动将推动美国经济在未来取得长足进展。”
好吧，在那段漂亮话里有一件事没提到，那就是按照这一预算方案，火星探索的项目开支将遭大幅削减，而且还很有可能导致一项雄心勃勃的美欧联合行动化为泡影。在当前的经济气候下，项目被砍确实没什么好大惊小怪的。不过NASA此举究竟有何深意呢？恩，今天来到我们节目的是BBC新闻网站科学版块的编辑保罗·瑞肯，他一直在关注此事。保罗，那么NASA要把钱花在哪里呢？
“尽管预算维持原有水平不变，但他们有个迅速膨胀的旗舰项目，那就是继哈勃太空望远镜之后的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜，其预算已经飙升至20亿美元。要以不变的预算来负担这项开支，那就意味着NASA正在进行中的其他项目只能被砍，而这项预算方案中受波及最严重的就是行星科学方面的研究，此类研究都要向火星或其他星体发射机器人探测器、漫游式探测器和卫星，也因此在新预算下遭受重创。然而作为其中之一的火星项目损失最为惨重，预算被砍40%之多。这也意味着NASA无法再按原计划与欧洲联手前往火星去探索其星球表面了。”
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