NASA announced this afternoon that it plans to launch a tiny, four-pound, autonomous helicopter along with its 2020 rover mission. And if you think this sounds relatively cool, well: you're right.

今天下午美国国家航空暨太空总署(NASA)拟送微型、约四磅（3.6斤）的无人直升机完成2020年的火星探测任务，如果你觉得听起来很酷，那就对了。

The experimental, softball-sized drone would be the first airborne vehicle to fly around within Mars's atmosphere other than the landers that have delivered other, ground-based rovers.

这架垒球大小的实验无人机，不同于之前送到火星地表上探测仪，它被直接送到火星的大气层。

In order to design a flying vehicle that would actually work on another planet, NASA scientists faced a number of chanllenges.

为了使这家飞行器真正能够在火星上运行，NASA的科学家面对了一系列的挑战。

For example: the Red Planet's particularly-weak atmosphere and the communication delay between ground control here on Earth and the rover.

比如，火星的大气层非常的薄，而且探测器和地球上的控制沟通会有所延时。

Traveling at the speed of light, it'll still take several minutes for any commands sent from Earth to reach the helicopter, so the flying rover will have to be at least partially autonomous as it provides scientists and other autonomous vehicles with the first long-term bird's-eye view of the planet.

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