高齊云

NASA may have landed on the Moon decades ago， but that doesnt mean we know all that much about our nearest celestial1 neighbor. Were regularly learning new things as we stare at the lunar surface from Earth， and NASA and other space groups have sent various probes2 and orbiters3 to study it in greater detail than was possible.

幾十年前，美國國家航空航天局已經(jīng)登陸月球，但這并不意味著我們很了解這個(gè)最近的天體鄰居。當(dāng)我們從地球上凝視月球表面時(shí)，經(jīng)常會發(fā)現(xiàn)新的東西。美國宇航局和其他航天小組已經(jīng)派出了各種各樣的探測器和軌道飛行器，對月球進(jìn)行了盡可能更加詳細(xì)的研究。

Now， its Chinas turn.

現(xiàn)在，輪到中國了。

In a landing that lined up nicely with the new year， Chinas Change 4 touched down on the far side of the Moon and quickly deployed a rover4 that is now crawling along the surface. Its the first time any country has accomplished such a feat5 on the Moons little-studied far side， and for China its a huge opportunity to contribute to space exploration as a whole.

中國的“嫦娥四號”在新年之際著陸，降落在月球背面，并迅速部署了一輛現(xiàn)在正在月球表面爬行的月球車。這是第一次有國家在研究較少的月球背面完成這樣的壯舉，對中國來說，這是一個(gè)為整個(gè)空間探索做出貢獻(xiàn)的巨大機(jī)遇。

Recently Chinas space agency CNSA was sure that both the lander and the rover itself have established a data link. The rover， which was seen in early photos having just taken its first strides6 on the Moon， is shown moving farther away from the landers camera. CNSA says the radar and camera instruments are working as intended， but it has yet to test out some of its other high-tech tools.

最近，中國的航天機(jī)構(gòu)中國國家航天局證實(shí)了登陸器和月球車已經(jīng)建立了數(shù)據(jù)鏈接。在前期的照片中，月球車剛剛在月球上邁出了第一步，照片顯示它離著陸器的照相機(jī)越來越遠(yuǎn)。中國國家航天局表示，雷達(dá)和攝像設(shè)備按預(yù)期在照常工作，但還沒有測試月球車上其他的高科技工具。

The mission starts on January 10th， and CNSAs engineers and scientists have plenty of work ahead of them. The rover will take samples of the Moons surface and relay7 data back to Earth， giving researchers a hint as to the age of the material and helping scientists paint a clearer picture of the formation8 of the Moon as well as Earth.

該任務(wù)于1月10日開始，中國國家航天局的工程師和科學(xué)家們在這之前還有大量工作要做。月球車將采集月球表面的樣本，并將數(shù)據(jù)傳回地球，給研究人員提供有關(guān)物質(zhì)年份的線索，幫助科學(xué)家描繪出月球和地球形成時(shí)更清晰的圖像。

The mission also brought with it a pint-sized “biosphere” which will be used to study the effects of low gravity9 on Earths own organisms10. Small silkworms and potato plants are housed in the enclosed unit， as well as oxygen and water. Its a self-contained ecosystem， and scientists want to see what might happen to it over time.

這次任務(wù)還帶了一個(gè)微型“生物圈”，將用來研究低重力對地球生物的影響。蠶寶寶和土豆苗以及氧氣和水被安置在封閉的艙里。這是一個(gè)自給自足的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，科學(xué)家們想看看隨著時(shí)間的推移會發(fā)生什么。

Its exciting times for Moon research， and at the moment China is leading the charge.

對月球研究而言，這是令人激動的時(shí)刻，而中國目前正處于主導(dǎo)地位。

▲Discuss 議一議

[1]Do you want to go to the moon if you have chance？ 如果有機(jī)會，你想去月球嗎？

[2]What will you take when you go to the moon？ 去月球的時(shí)候你會帶些什么呢？

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