Ten, nine, eight, seven ... With a dazzling flame trailing behind, the fifth Long March 5 carrier rocket with the Chang’e 5 lunar probe launched at 4:30 am on Nov 24.
十、九、八、七……拖著耀眼的尾焰，搭載“嫦娥五號”月球探測器的“長征五號”運載火箭于11月24日凌晨4時30分發(fā)射升空。
The Chang’e 5 lunar probe plans to return with samples of the moon. The entire mission will last about 23 days, according to the China National Space Administration. If this mission is successful, Chang’e 5 will be the first lunar sample-return spacecraft since 1976, when the former Soviet Union’s unmanned Luna 24 brought 170.1 grams of lunar samples back.
嫦娥五號月球探測器計劃帶回月球樣本。中國國家航天局表示，整個任務(wù)周期約23天。如果此次任務(wù)成功，嫦娥五號將成為1976年以來首個實現(xiàn)月球采樣返回的探測器。1976年，前蘇聯(lián)的月球24號無人探測器帶回了170.1克月球樣本。
As one of the most complex and difficult missions in China’s aerospace field, the Chang’e 5 mission aims to bring back a larger sample than previous crafts and explore a new area of the moon.
作為中國航空航天領(lǐng)域最復(fù)雜、難度最大的任務(wù)之一，嫦娥五號任務(wù)的目標(biāo)是比以往的航天器帶回更多的樣本，并探索月球新區(qū)域。
“The three unmanned lunar probes of the former Soviet Union – Lunar 16, Lunar 20 and Lunar 24 – carried out three lunar samplings and return missions, and the lunar soil samples brought back were only about 330 grams, while Chang’e 5 plans to bring back 2 kilograms of lunar samples,” Pang Zhihao, a space activity researcher and author in Beijing, told Science and Technology Daily. The great increase in sample weight can be attributed to Chang’e 5’s lunar orbit unmanned docking program. With the program, the ascender doesn’t need a return cabin anymore. It only requires a small amount of fuel, so even a relatively heavier sampling will not affect the normal return of the spacecraft.
“前蘇聯(lián)三個無人月球探測器（月球16號、月球20號和月球24號）進(jìn)行了三次月球采樣返回任務(wù)，帶回的月球土壤樣本僅約330克，而嫦娥五號計劃帶回的月球樣本有2千克，”現(xiàn)居北京的空間活動研究員、作家龐志浩在接受《科技日報》采訪時如此表示。樣本重量的大幅增加可以歸功于嫦娥五號的月球軌道無人交會對接技術(shù)。有了這一技術(shù)，上升器無需再使用返回器。上升器只需少量燃料，因此即便是相對更重的樣本也不會影響航天器的正常返回。
The climax of the journey is Chang’e 5’s lunar landing site – the northwest region of Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the Ocean of Storms – on the near side of the moon, where no probes have visited before. It’s geologically younger than the sampling areas of the US and the former Soviet missions, so the new samples will help fill in an important piece of the puzzle of the moon’s history.
此次探月之旅最精彩之處在于嫦娥五號的著陸區(qū)域——月球近月面西北部的風(fēng)暴洋，此前從未有探測器到達(dá)過這里。這塊區(qū)域的地質(zhì)年齡比美國與前蘇聯(lián)的任務(wù)采樣區(qū)域更年輕，因此新樣本將有助于填補(bǔ)月球歷史之謎中的一塊重要空缺。
“Chinese scientists and those from other countries all have a chance to get the lunar samples to be brought back by Chang’e 5 for research,” Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center, told China Daily.
“中外科學(xué)家都有機(jī)會獲得嫦娥五號帶回的月球樣本來進(jìn)行研究，” 探月與航天工程中心副主任裴照宇在接受《中國日報》采訪時如此表示。
Based on the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind, China has signed cooperation framework agreements with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos and the European Space Agency.
基于人類命運共同體的理念，我國已與聯(lián)合國外太空事務(wù)處、俄羅斯聯(lián)邦航天局及歐洲航天局簽署了合作框架協(xié)議。
(Translator & Editor: Wang Yue (Intern) AND Wang Xingwei)
http://www.cycjq.cn/story/3618.html
