「纽约时报·双语」飞向月球背面：七个问题，快速了解嫦娥四号

飞向月球背面：七个问题，快速了解嫦娥四号

China’s Chang’e-4 Launches on Mission to the Moon’s Far Side

KENNETH CHANG

2018年12月10日

China is aiming to go where no one has gone before: the far side of the moon.

中国的目标是去一个没有人去过的地方：月球背面。

A rocket carrying the Chang’e-4 lunar lander blasted off at about 2:23 a.m. local time on Saturday from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern China. (In the United States, it was still midday Friday). Chinese authorities did not broadcast the launch, but an unofficial live stream recorded near the site showed the rocket rise from the launchpad until its flames looked like a bright star in the area’s dark skies.

搭载着嫦娥四号登月飞行器的火箭于当地时间周六凌晨2点23分（在美国还是周五中午时分）从中国南部的西昌卫星发射中心升空。中国当局没有播出这次发射，但是在该站点附近录制的非官方直播节目显示火箭从发射台升起，直到它的火焰变得仿佛夜空里的一颗明星。

Nearly one hour later, Xinhua, China’s state-run news agencyreported that Chang’e-4 had successfully launched.

近一个小时后，中国官方通讯社新华社报道嫦娥四号已成功发射。

Exactly when it will set down at its destination has not yet been announced — possibly in early January — but Chang’e-4 will provide the first close-up look at a part of the moon that is eternally out of view from Earth.

目前为止，还没有宣布嫦娥四号究竟何时将在目的地着陆——可能是在1月初——但嫦娥4号将首次近距离观察从地球视角内永远看不到的那部分月球。

What is Chang’e-4?

嫦娥四号是什么？

Chang’e-4 includes two main parts: the main lander weighing about 2,400 pounds and a 300-pound rover. By comparison, NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars weighs about 400 pounds, and the Curiosity rover there is much bigger, at 2,000 pounds.

嫦娥四号主要包括两个部分：重约2400磅的主着陆器和一个300磅的月球探测车。相比之下美国宇航局(NASA)的机遇号火星探测车重约400磅，而同在火星的好奇号探测车要大的多，重达2000磅。

The spacecraft is largely a clone of Chang’e-3, which landed on the moon in 2013. Indeed, Chang’e-4 was built as the backup in case the first attempt failed. With the success — the first soft landing of any spacecraft on the moon since 1976 — the Chinese outfitted Chang’e-4 with a different set of instruments and decided to send it to a different location.

该航天器很大程度上是嫦娥三号的复制品，后者于2013年降落在月球上。事实上，嫦娥四号是作为备份制造的，以防止第一次尝试失败。随着嫦娥三号的成功——这是自1976年以来首次有航天器在月球上软着陆——中国人给嫦娥四号配置了不同的仪器，并决定将它送到不同的地点。

Where is Chang’e-4 going?

嫦娥四号要去哪里？

The rover will land in the 110-mile-wide Von Kármán crater. It is on the far side of the moon, which is always facing away from Earth. (The moon is what planetary scientists call “tidally locked” to the rotation of the Earth. That is, its period of rotation — its day — is the same as the time it takes to make one orbit around Earth.)

月球车将在110英里宽的冯·卡门(VonKármán)撞击坑着陆。它位于永远背离地球的月球背面。（按行星科学家的说法，月亮绕地球的旋转是“潮汐锁定”的。也就是说，它自身的旋转周期——它的一天——与围绕地球轨道一周所需的时间相同。

The crater is within an area known as the South Pole-Aitken basin, a gigantic, 1,600-mile-wide crater at the bottom of the moon, which has a mineralogy distinct from other locations. That may reflect materials from the inside of the moon that were brought up by the impact that created the basin.

撞击坑位于被称为南极-艾特肯盆地(Aitken basin)的区域内，这是一个位于月球底部的巨大撞击坑，宽1600英里，其矿物质与其他地方不同。这可能反映了月球内部受盆地形成的影响而产生的物质。

The far side is also considerably more mountainous than the near side for reasons not yet understood.

由于一些尚未被理解的原因，月球背面也比正面多了相当多的山。

What will Chang’e-4 study?

嫦娥四号将研究什么？

The suite of instruments on the rover and the lander include cameras, ground-penetrating radar and spectrometers to help identify the composition of rocks and dirt in the area. And China’s space agency has collaborated with other countries. One instrument was developed at Kiel University in Germany; another was provided by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

月球车和着陆器上的配套设备，包括摄像机、探地雷达和光谱仪，将有助于识别该区域的岩石和泥土的成分。中国航天局与其他国家进行了合作。其中一个仪器由德国基尔大学(Kiel University)开发；还有一个由瑞典空间物理研究所(Swedish Institute of Space Physics)提供。

The instruments will probe the structure of the rocks beneath the spacecraft and study the effects of the solar wind striking the lunar surface. Chang’e-4 will also test the ability of making radio astronomy observations from the far side of the moon, without the effects of noise and interference from Earth.

这些仪器将探测航天器下方岩石的结构，并研究太阳风撞击月球表面产生的影响。在不受地球噪声和干扰影响的情况下，嫦娥四号还将测试从月球背面进行射电天文观测的能力。

According to the Xinhua news agency, Chang’e-4 is also carrying an intriguing biology experiment to see if plant seeds will germinate and silkworm eggs will hatch in the moon’s low gravity.

据新华社报道，嫦娥四号还将进行一项有趣的生物学实验，看看在月球的低重力环境下，植物种子是否会发芽，蚕卵是否会孵化。

How will the spacecraft communicate with Earth?

航天器如何与地球沟通？

Because the moon blocks radio signals from our planet, the Chinese launched a satellite, called Queqiao, in May. It is circling high over the far side of the moon, and will relay messages between Earth and the Chang’e-4 lander.

由于月球挡住了地球发出的无线电波信号，中国于今年5月发射了“鹊桥”卫星。该卫星沿月球较远一侧的高空环绕运行，将承担地球与嫦娥四号着陆器之间的通信任务。

When will Chang’e-4 land on the moon?

嫦娥四号将于什么时候在月球着陆？

China’s space agency has not announced a landing date, though some expect that will be the first week of January, when the sun will be shining over the far side of the moon, an important consideration because Chang’e-4 is solar-powered.

中国航天局尚未公布着陆日期，但有预计称将在1月的第一周，届时太阳将照在月球较远一侧，嫦娥四号为太阳能驱动，这一考量很重要。

LR注：

2019年1月3日上午10点26分，“嫦娥四号”探测器成功着陆在月球背面东经177.6度、南纬45.5度附近的预选着陆区，并通过“鹊桥”中继星传回了世界第一张近距离拍摄的月背影像图，揭开了古老月背的神秘面纱。此次任务实现了人类探测器首次月背软着陆，首次月背与地球的中继通信，开启了人类月球探测新篇章。 （央视新闻）

Zhang Xiaoping, an associate professor from Space Science Institute/Lunar and Planetary Science Laboratory of Macau University of Science and Technology, said that the spacecraft would follow the Chang’e-3’s trajectory. That means it would arrive in three to five days and then orbit the moon for several days (13 in the case of Chang’e-3) while preparing for the landing, he said.

中国国际空间科学研究所/澳门科技大学月球与行星科学实验室助理教授张小平表示，航天器将依照嫦娥三号的路线行进。这意味着它将于三至五日到达，然后绕月球轨道运行数日（嫦娥三号当时运行了13天），同时做好着陆准备。

Wait, I thought the far side of the moon was dark.

等等，我以为月球远侧是黑的。

The far side is not dark all of the time.

较远一侧并非总是一片漆黑。

The first new moon of 2019 is Jan. 6. That’s when you cannot see the moon because the dark side — the side that is in shadow facing away from the sun — is facing Earth. And when the near side of the moon is dark, the far side is awash in bright sunshine.

2019年的第一轮新月在1月6日。那时候你看不见月亮，因为黑的一面，即处于背对太阳的阴影之中的那一面，正对着地球。当月球较近的一侧变黑，较远一侧则沐浴在明亮的阳光下。

What does Chang’e mean?

嫦娥是什么意思？

In Chinese mythology, Chang’e is the goddess of the moon. Other missions have been named after her, too.

在中国神话里，嫦娥是月亮女神。其它行动也有以嫦娥命名的。

Chang’e-1 and 2 went into orbit around the moon but did not land. Chang’e-1 was launched in 2007. Chang’e-2 followed in 2010.

嫦娥一号和二号曾进入轨道绕月运行，但未着陆。嫦娥一号于2007年发射。嫦娥二号随后于2010年发射。

The next step in China’s moon program is for the Chang’e-5 robotic spacecraft to land on the moon and then bring rock samples back to Earth for additional study.

中国月球计划的下一步是让嫦娥五号非载人航天器登月，将岩石样本带回地球进行进一步的研究。

Chang’e-5 was supposed to head to the moon before Chang’e-4, but a launch failure of the large Chinese rocket needed to carry it to space delayed the mission until at least 2019.

嫦娥五号本应在嫦娥四号之前奔月，但由于运载它到太空的大型中国火箭发射失败，其行程被推至2019年以后。

Who else is planning to go to the moon?

还有哪些国家有登月计划？

Next year, the Indian government is planning to launch a mission, Chandrayaan-2, that includes an orbiter, a lander and a rover. SpaceIL, an Israeli team that was a finalist in the Google Lunar X Prize, is also still aiming to send a robotic lander to the moon early next year, even though the $20 million prize has expired.

印度政府计划于明年进行名为“月船二号”(Chandrayaan-2)的任务，其中包括了轨道器、着陆器和探测器。入围谷歌“月球X奖”的以色列公司SpaceL也仍在准备于明年初发射非载人着陆器到月球，虽然2000万美元奖金已过期。

NASA announced last week that nine companies will compete forrobotic missions to carry science experiments to the moon. The space agency said the first of those could go as early as 2019, but most of the companies said they would not be ready until 2021.

上周，美国国家航空航天局宣布，九家公司将竞争运载科学实验到月球的非载人行动。该航天局表示，其中的首批行动可能在2019年就会开始，但大多数公司称他们要到2021年才能准备到位。

Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, has praised the Chang’e-4 mission as exciting, and at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany in October, talked of possible collaboration with the Chinese space agency. Federal laws limit any NASA interaction with the Chinese.

美国国家航空航天局局长吉姆· 布里登斯廷(Jim Bridenstine)称赞嫦娥四号是一项激动人心的任务，并曾于十月份在德国不来梅港市举行的国际宇航大会上谈到与中国的航天局合作的可能。联邦法律禁止美国国家航空航天局与中国进行任何互动。