科学家揭开"火星上是否有水"之迷

　　When the scientists turned the orbiter's imaging spectrometer on to the flow-marked slopes, they got a surprise - the instrument, which remotely analyses the chemical composition of materials, failed to confirm the presence of water.

　　当科学家们用光谱仪分析卫星轨道器获取的图像中河流形的印记，他们惊讶的发现，这种能够远程分析物质化学成分的仪器并不能证实有水的存在。

　　Dr McEwen said this could be because the water quickly dries on the surface and did not happen to be there when the analysis was carried out.

　　McEwen说，这也许是因为水在短时间内迅速蒸发掉了，当分析过程正在进行时，星球表面并没有水的存在。

　　Alternatively, it might exist at shallow depths below ground.

　　也有可能，水式存在于深色区域的地表之下。

　　A subterranean flow of briny water could rearrange sand grains or alter surface roughness in a way that darkens its appearance.

　　地下水流的流动会使得沙粒积累，并使得表面变得粗糙，从而颜色更深。

　　‘It's a mystery now, but I think it's a solvable mystery with further observations and experiments,’ Dr McEwen added.

　　“现在这还是一个谜，不过可以通过进一步的观察和试验来解开这个谜”，McEwen说。

　　Mars has not yet yielded definitive evidence of liquid water active on its surface today.

　　如今，还没有确凿的证据表面火星表面有液体的水存在。