會講笑話就能上火星？你準備好去應聘了嗎？

長夜漫漫，無心睡眠，尤其是在茫茫太空中。是時候來點開心的事了！美國國家航空航天局正在尋找“幽默搞笑”的人擔任宇航員，以在探測火星的漫漫旅途中保持士氣。

Nasa has outlined its four stage plan (pictured) which it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars at he Humans to Mars Summit held in Washington DC yesterday. This will entail multiple missions to the moon over coming decades.

找那些能逗悶子的人，NASA你在逗我嗎？NASA說，他們是認真的。

Astronauts have traditionally been serious, sensible types with the 'right stuff' who can be trusted to fly equipment worth billions of pounds.

傳統的宇航員是嚴肅、理智的，具備“應有的素質”，可以信賴他們駕駛價值數十億英鎊的設備飛行。

But any mission to Mars will need a 'joker' or 'class clown' figure to be successful, according to NASA research.

但是據美國國家航空航天局（NASA）研究，任何去往火星的任務將需要一名“幽默搞笑的人”或“班級小丑”一樣的人物才能獲得成功。

A sense of humor will be vital for any team to keep morale high on a two-year trip to Mars which could happen in the 2030s.

去往火星需要耗時兩年，幽默感對任何去往火星的團隊保持士氣高漲都至關重要。火星之旅可能在2030年左右出發。

morale [mə'rɑːl]：n.士氣，鬥志

The joker role will be tested in NASA's group mission simulations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

負責幽默搞笑的人將在NASA德克薩斯州休斯敦約翰遜航天中心的團隊任務模擬小組接受測試。

Jeffrey Johnson, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida, Gainesville is advising NASA's Human Exploration Research Analog, a project which looks at how teams can cope with extreme periods of isolation.

位於蓋恩斯維爾的佛羅里達大學人類學教授傑弗裏·約翰遜是NASA人類探索研究模擬項目的顧問，該項目考察團隊如何應對極端的孤獨時期。

He addressed the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference on 'Building a Winning Team for Missions to Mars'.

他在美國科學促進會年度會議上發表了題爲《打造火星任務勝利團隊》的演講。

Professor Johnson said: 'Groups work best when they have somebody who takes on the role of class clown.

約翰遜教授說：“當團隊中有人扮演班級小丑的角色時，團隊的工作表現最好。”

'These are people that have the ability to pull everyone together, bridge gaps when tensions appear and really boost morale.

“這些人有能力團結大家，當緊張關係出現時能彌合分歧，並真正鼓舞士氣。

A handout of an artist's rendering of the Mars rover Opportunity on the surface of Mars. NASA has received only silence from the rover since contact was lost during a global dust storm on the red planet in June of 2018. [Photo/IC]

'We can all think of the person at work who fulfills this role, who makes us laugh and makes the job more enjoyable. People like being around them.

“我們都能想起擔任了這個角色的成員，他讓我們開懷大笑，讓工作更享受，人們喜歡和他們一起工作。”

'When you're living with others in a confined space for a long period of time, such as on a mission to Mars, tensions are likely to fray.

“當你和其他人長時間生活在一個密閉空間裏時，關係可能會更緊張，比如在執行火星任務的途中。”

'It's vital you have somebody who can help everyone get along, so they can do their jobs and get there and back safely. It's mission critical.

“有個成員能幫助大家和睦相處，這很重要，這樣整個團隊就能順利完成任務，抵達火星，並安全返回。這是一項關鍵任務。”

歷史研究證明，第一次南極探險的成功，最大的功臣是一名幽默的廚子。

Professor Johnson has studied isolated groups of people in extreme environments including Russian, Chinese, Indian and Polish explorers based in Antarctica.

約翰遜教授曾研究過在極端環境下幾乎與世隔絕的團隊成員，包括俄羅斯、中國、印度和波蘭駐南極洲的探險家。

Photo taken by the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) on Jan 11, 2019 shows the lander of the Chang'e 4 probe. [Photo/Xinhua/China National Space Administration]

He has also looked at historical examples. Professor Johnson said that the reason Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen succeeded where Captain Scott failed in reaching the South Pole was because the Norwegians had a jolly 'clown' figure on their team.

他還查閱了歷史範例。約翰遜教授說，挪威探險家羅爾德-阿蒙森之所以成功到達了南極，就是因爲一位成員幽默搞笑，是團隊中的“小丑”。而在此之前，斯科特船長的南極探險就失敗了。

Professor Johnson said of Amundsen: 'He had a cook named Adolf Lindstrom. People described him as being someone who laughed and was very jovial and very happy, an entertainer, keeping up people's spirits.

約翰遜教授談到阿蒙森時說：“他有一名叫阿道夫-林德斯特倫的廚師。人們說阿道夫風趣幽默，非常快活，是團隊的開心果，讓大家精神飽滿。”

'In Amundsen's diary he said he had rendered greater service to the Norwegian polar expedition than any other man. He was the clown of that expedition. Scott's expedition was radically different. They broke into cliques; they didn't have a cohesive group.' 'Astronauts going to Mars need a Lindstrom,' he said.

他說：“阿蒙森在日記中寫道，阿道夫對挪威探險隊南極探險之旅的貢獻比其他人都要大。他是探險隊的‘小丑’。斯科特的探險隊則完全不同。成員之間拉幫結派，不是緊密團結的羣體。火星探險任務需要一位阿道夫。”

clique [kliːk]：n.派系；小圈子

當然，也不要以爲有點才藝就可以大展身手了。

But he added: 'Being funny won't be enough to land somebody the job. They also need to be an excellent scientist and engineer and be able to pass a rigorous training regime.'

但他也補充說：“輕鬆搞笑並不足以讓一個人勝任這個工作。他們還需要是出色的科學家和工程師，能夠通過嚴格的訓練項目。”

Previous missions, including the Apollo spacecraft with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (pictured), were very sensible. Future missions will require staff with a good sense of humour and NASA says it will be vital for any team to keep morale high on a two-year trip to Mars.

Clowns have to be positive, Professor Johnson said.

約翰遜教授說，幽默搞笑的宇航員必須是積極向上的。

'There are people who are loving and laughable and jovial and endearing, and therefore bring people together. But others who are cruel. When I worked at the South Pole station there was lots of cruel behavior. It's better to become a mascot - get taken in by the group and loved.

“有些人充滿愛心，風趣幽默，天性快活，討人喜歡，因此能把大家團結在一起。但也有人讓人痛苦。我在南極科考站工作時，見到過很多粗魯的行爲。人們最好能成爲團隊的‘吉祥物’，融入團隊中，受人喜愛。”

jovial ['dʒəʊvɪəl; -vj(ə)l]：adj.天性快活的

'It's pretty universal - it doesn't matter whether you are Russian, Polish, Chinese, Indian. Group dynamics happen in very similar ways across all human groups.'

“這是放之四海而皆準的道理，不管你來自俄羅斯、波蘭、中國還是印度。在所有的人類羣體中，團隊動態的發生方式都是相似的。”