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At the time,
当时
the Church insisted that all heavenly bodies were perfect,
教会坚称所有天体都是完美无瑕的圆形
unblemished spheres, and that the earth
地球是宇宙间
was the only body in the universe that was flawed.
唯一有缺陷的星体
But Galileo's close up view of the moon's surface
但伽利略看到的月球表面
revealed a world that was far from perfect.
是个与“完美”二字沾不上边的世界
He described it as
他说
"rough and uneven just like the surface of earth itself."
月球表面“崎岖不平和地球表面相差无几”
Perhaps it was a living world, like our own?
也许月球果真和地球一样是个充满生机的世界
Hundreds of years later our knowledge
几百年之后
of the moon had barely improved.
我们对月球的了解几乎毫无长进
Just how ignorant we were was revealed in 1835.
人类的无知在1835年显露无遗
An American newspaper published a front-page story announcing
美国一份报纸的头条新闻是
that herds of bison had been observed
有人看到一群野牛
tramping across the lunar surface.
飞奔过月球表面
Readers were entranced by this vision.
此情此景让读者神往不已
A few days later it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax.
几天后就被人踢爆为骗局
The only way to find out what was really on the moon
想知道月球上有什么东西
was to go there and take a look.
唯有跑一趟亲眼目睹
But over a hundred years later it still seemed
时间又过了一百多年
an impossible dream.
登月仍然是个遥不可及的梦想
All that finally changed in the early 1960's.
这一切终于在1960年代初期有了转机
I believe that this nation should commit itself
我认为美国
to achieving the goal before this decade
应该在十年间达成
is out of landing a man on the moon
让人类登陆月球
and returning him safely to the earth.
并安全返回地球的目标
Kennedy's bid for the moon came out of a Cold War
甘迺迪的登月计划
battle to win over peoples'hearts and minds.
是一场争夺人心的冷战的产物
It was an inspired move, tapping into an ancient dream.
这个利用人类古老梦想的举动，堪称神来之笔
Finally we would find the answers to the moon's great mysteries;
人类长久以来的疑问终于可以得到解答：
how was it formed, what was it made of,
月亮是怎么形成的？其成分为何？
and was it a home for some form of life?
上面有没有生物？
The moon had sort of always been the symbol of the,
自古以来，月亮就象征着
the remote and the unreachable and here people
遥不可及的事物
are going to leave earth and go to the moon!
现在人类居然要离开地球，前往月球
But if they wanted to lay claim to the moon,
但美国人想拔得登月头筹
the Americans had a lot of catching up to do.
还得奋起直追才行
Their cold war rival
因为他们在冷战中的对手
the Soviet Union was way ahead.
苏联早就遥遥领先
The Russian's ambitious space programme
苏联人企图心十足的太空计划
produced a string of firsts
产生了许多第一名：
including the first satellite in orbit and the first man in space.
包括第一颗进入轨道的人造卫星和第一个进入太空的人
And in 1959 they'd set out to solve
他们在1959年
one of the moon's greatest mysteries,
着手解开月球最大的谜团
something that had kept humans guessing for centuries.
这个问题让人类猜测了好几百年
What was on the far side of the moon
月球的彼端究竟有什么？
the side that always faces away from us?
也就是永远背对着我们的那一面
To find out the Russian mission
为了找出答案
would have to circle the moon for the first time.
苏联人必须展开史上第一趟绕月任务
On the 7th of October the probe disappeared
10月7日探测器消失在月球的彼端
behind the far side of the moon, and its cameras leapt into action.
船上的摄影机开始拍摄
For 40 minutes it snapped away
并在科学家的屏息等待下
whilst scientists waited on tenterhooks.
拍摄了40分钟
