Nasa doubles Mars traffic 美将发射两枚探测器登陆火星

An artist's impression of what the new rovers will look like

想象中的新的漫游者的样子

The American space agency, Nasa, has announced that it is planning to send two unmanned probes - rather than just one - to Mars.

Nasa spokesman Dr Edward Weiler said the two robot vehicles would be sent to different locations on the planet surface to broaden the mission's scope.

The probes are due to be launched in 2003, two weeks apart, and should land early the following year to begin their task.

"To have two rovers driving over dramatically different regions of Mars at the same time, to be able to drive over and see what's on the other side of the hill - it's an incredibly exciting idea," said Dr Weiler.

Doubling the number of Nasa probes is believed to be adding about $150m on to the $350m price tag of a single mission, excluding launch and operations.

美国航空和宇宙航天局(NASA)宣布它计划发射两个无人探测器登上火星，而不是一个。

NASA发言人爱德华-威勒博士说这两个机器人探测器将被送往火星表面的不同位置，以拓宽这次探测的范围。

这两枚探测器预计2003年隔两星期先后被送入太空，第二年早些时候登陆并开始工作。

威勒博士说，“两个漫游者同时在不同的区域神奇地移动，这样就可以看到山的另一边的情况－这真是个令人难以置信的好主意。”

将探测器由一个变成两个，将需要在原来的3.5亿美元标价的基础上追加1.5亿美元，其中不包括发射和运行费用。