嫦娥五号离开月球表面，开启返程之旅
Watch a Chinese Spacecraft Launch From the Moon and Start Its Trip Back to Earth
KENNETH CHANG
2020年12月4日
Two days after it landed on the moon, China’s Chang’e-5 mission is on its way again, blasting off back to space, the beginning of its journey back to Earth ferrying a bounty of soil and rocks for scientists to study.
登月两天后，中国的嫦娥五号探测器再次升空，返回太空，开始回归地球的旅程，它将为科学家们带回大量的土壤和岩石进行研究。
The top half of the lander launched at 10:10 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, according to the China National Space Administration. Footage posted by Chinese state media showed the flash of the spacecraft’s engine as it headed to orbit, an ascent that took about six minutes.
根据中国国家航天局的消息，着陆器的上半部分于东部时间周四上午10点10分发射。从中国官方媒体发布的视频可以看到飞船进入轨道时发动机的闪光，上升过程约为六分钟。
It was the first time any spacecraft had launched from the lunar surface since the end of the Cold War moon race in 1976, and the first Chinese spacecraft to ever blast off from another world in the solar system.
这是自1976年冷战月球竞赛结束以来，首次有航天器从月球表面发射，也是中国航天器首次从太阳系的另一个世界起飞。
The lander set down on Tuesday in a region of the moon known as Mons Rümker. The spacecraft was in the middle of a basalt lava plain that is about two billion years younger than the parts of the moon explored more than four decades ago by NASA’s Apollo astronauts and the Soviet Union’s robotic Luna landers. Images from the spacecraft show a desolate landscape with gentle rolling hills, a sign of its youth.
着陆器于周二降落在月球的吕姆克山(Mons Rümker)地区。飞船的位置处于一个玄武岩熔岩平原中部，比NASA的阿波罗号宇航员和苏联的月球登陆器在40多年前探索过的月球部分年轻约20亿年。来自飞船的图像显示了荒凉的地貌和平缓起伏的山丘，这是它年轻的标志。
Within hours of arriving on the moon, Chang’e-5 set about drilling and scooping its lunar samples — perhaps more than four pounds.
在抵达月球后的几个小时内，嫦娥五号就开始钻探和采集月球样本，重量可能在2公斤左右。
Scientists are curious how this region remained molten far longer than the rest of the moon. Examination of these rocks in laboratories on Earth will also pin down their exact age, and that will calibrate a method that planetary scientists use to determine the ages of the surfaces of planets, moons and other bodies throughout the solar system.
科学家们很好奇，这片区域保持熔化状态的时间为何比月球的其他部分长得多。在地球上的实验室对这些岩石进行检查，可以确定它们的确切年龄，这将对行星科学家用来确定整个太阳系内行星、卫星和其他天体表面年龄的方法进行校准。
The spacecraft’s departure is the first step in a complex sequence to return the rocks to Earth.
探测器升空是将这些岩石送回地球的复杂步骤的第一步。
After it arrived in lunar orbit over the weekend, Chang’e-5 split into two. While the lander headed for the surface, the other half remained in orbit.
嫦娥五号在上周末到达月球轨道后分一分为二。当着陆器飞向月球表面时，飞船的另一半仍在轨道上运行。
The ascent portion of the lander is to rendezvous and dock with the piece that remained in orbit. The rocks and soil will be transferred to a return capsule for a trip back to Earth, parachuting to a landing in Inner Mongolia later this month.
着陆器的上升部分将与留在轨道上的部分进行会合、对接。岩石和土壤将被转移到返回舱中带回地球，并于本月晚些时候在内蒙古降落。
There have been three successful missions to the moon’s surface following the 1970s. All three are Chinese. A Chinese mission is also on its way to Mars, where it will attempt the country’s first landing on another planet next year.
自1970年代以来，已经有三次成功的月球表面探测任务。三次都是由中国完成。中国的火星任务也在途中，明年将成为中国在另一个星球上首次着陆的尝试。
No other country has successfully landed on the moon since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 spacecraft in 1976. Two attempts last year — one by an Israeli nonprofit and one by India’s space agency — ended in failure, with both crashing.
自从1976年苏联的月球24号(Luna 24)飞船成功登陆月球以来，还没有其他国家成功登陆月球。去年以色列的一个非营利组织和印度航天局的尝试都以飞船坠毁失败告终。
NASA intends to return astronauts to the moon later this decade, but has intermediate plans to pay commercial companies to land robotic payloads on the lunar surface, which could begin next year.
NASA打算在这个十年的晚些时候让宇航员重返月球，但它有一个中期计划：向商业公司支付费用，让飞船搭载的机器人在月球表面着陆，这可能在明年开始。
