英国探险家沙克尔顿的南极沉船能否 “失而复得”？

要想找到英国南极探险家欧内斯特·沙克尔顿（Ernest Shackleton）曾经带领的标志性船只，需要付出巨大的努力。 这是去年试图寻找 “持久号” 探险船未果的科学家们得出的结论，“持久号” 于1915年沉入了威德尔海三千米深的海底。

It was an extraordinary adventure ­- Ernest Shackleton and his men trapped in sea ice for months on end before eventually abandoning their crashed ship and making an escape on foot.

这是一次非比寻常的冒险。欧内斯特·沙克尔顿（Ernest Shackleton）和他手下的船员们被困在海冰里数月，最终放弃了被撞毁的船只，徒步逃生。

Many have dreamt of locating the remains of Shackleton's lost polar yacht the Endurance, which now lies in Antarctic waters 10,000 feet deep. A British expedition last year came tantalisingly close to success, launching a robot to survey the expected resting site. But this robot failed to report back.

很多人都梦想着能找到沙克尔顿失落的极地游艇 “持久号” 的残骸，这艘游艇现在位于一万英尺（约三千米）深的南极海底。去年，一支英国探险队离成功近在咫尺，他们派出了一个机器人去考察经估测船只可能失事的地点。但这个机器人却失去了音讯。

The team's assessment of seafloor conditions predicts the Endurance is likely still in good shape, not covered by deep sediment and undamaged by the keels of icebergs.

这支团队根据对海底情况的评估预测，“持久号” 很可能在水下保存完好，未被深海沉积物覆盖，也没有被冰山的底部损坏。

But the lesson learned is the need to take at least two icebreakers to smash a path to the search site and maintain open water to launch more robots.

但他们从中得到的教训是，至少需要两艘破冰船来凿出通往搜索地点的道路，保持水域开阔，没有海冰的阻挡，以派出更多机器人。