中国范儿 76 嫦娥奔月：挺进人类未知之境

　　It isthe place of gravel, giant rocks, and craters. It is the far side of the moon,on which humans have never set foot before. What fantastic discoveries areawaiting us in this mysterious and unknown world?

12月8日2时23分，我国在西昌卫星发射中心用长征三号乙运载火箭成功发射嫦娥四号探测器，开启了月球探测的新旅程。新华社记者江宏景摄

　　2019年之初，嫦娥四号携带玉兔二号顺利登月，来了一次漂亮的软着陆。与以往“探月”不同，此次嫦娥四号的任务是飞到人类不曾踏足过的月球背面去。那是一片难得的宁静之地，屏蔽了来自地球的无线电信号干扰，最适合进行低频射电探测，研究恒星起源和星云演化。

　　Inearly 2019, Chang’e-4 and Yutu-2 successfully soft-landed on the moon. Unlikeprevious moon exploration missions, this time Chang’e-4’s mission is to fly tothe far side of the moon where no human presence has ever been recorded in thepast. The far side of the moon is an incredibly tranquil place. Shielded fromthe Earth’s radio noise, it is the perfect place to detect low-frequency radioand can facilitate our studies on the origins of stars and the evolution ofnebulae.

　　落月后，玉兔二号月球车与嫦娥四号实现了精准分离，在月背上留下了首行脚印。

　　Afterits landing on the moon, Yutu-2, the rover, accurately descended from Chang’e-4,the lander, and left its first footprint on thelunar surface.

　　此行，嫦娥与玉兔的任务艰巨，要探测月球背面巡视区的地形地貌、矿物和其他成分，探测背面巡视区的浅表层结构，还要展开低频射电天文观测。为完成人类探测器第一次在月球背面的探测任务，嫦娥四号和玉兔二号的技术与装备都进行了改进升级。

　　Thelander and the rover face very challenging tasks on this trip. Their task listincludes measuring the geography and terrain of the far side of the moon anddetecting minerals and other materials underneath the lunar surface. Accordingto the plan, they will also examine the subsurface of the far side of the moonand carry out low-frequency radio astronomical observations. To conduct thefirst exploration on the far side of the moon in history, Chang’e 4 and Yutu-2received massive technological and onboard equipment upgrades.

　　在技术方面，着陆地地形复杂，遍布大大小小的环形坑，对玉兔二号行走探测，带来很大挑战。定制的驱动电动机让玉兔的身手更敏捷，可驶过20厘米高的石头，从而顺利完成避障、越障、爬坡。

　　Onetechnological upgrade relates to the lunar terrain. The terrain of the landingarea is very complex, full of loop-shaped craters of varied sizes, which canpose enormous challenges for Yutu-2. An electromotor tailored for Yutu-2enables it to move more swiftly. Thanks to this upgrade, Yutu-2 rover can passover rocks with a diameter up to 20 cm. It is capable of bypassing and steppingover obstacles and climbing up slopes.

　　装备上，“嫦娥”带有地势地貌相机、降落相机、低频射电频谱仪、与德国协作的月表中子及辐射剂量勘探仪等，“玉兔”则配备了全景相机、测月雷达、红外成像光谱仪和与瑞典协作的中性原子勘探仪。

　　Chang’e-4carries a list of equipment including the Terrain Camera, the LandingCamera, the Very Low Frequency (VLF) Radio Interferometer and the Lunar LanderNeutrons and Dosimetry Experiment (LND) jointly developed with Germany, etc.Yutu-2 rover carries equipment including a panoramic camera, the ground-penetratingradar, an infrared spectrometer, and the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutralsjointly developed with Sweden.

　　这些仪器将首次测量月球表面的各种粒子辐射剂量，为未来载人登月的安全活动和月表综合粒子辐射模型修正提供数据支持。

　　All these instruments aim tomeasure the amounts of radiation from all sorts of particles on the lunarsurface for the first time in human history.They will pave the way for a crewedlunar landing mission in the future and provide data basis for adjusting theoverall model for measuring particle radiation on the lunar surface.

　　月球没有大气层隔热，最低温可到－180℃，高温将近200℃。为抵抗月球背面日夜之间的高温差，保护重要部件，避免极端情况，玉兔二号采取“休眠唤醒”。它身上防寒保暖的装备能将体温控制在55℃之下。虽是休息，但所收集到的信息依然可以通过“鹊桥”中继星传输到地球。

　　Since there is no atmosphere onthe moon, the temperature there can abruptly fluctuate within a range fromminus 180 Celsius degrees to 200 Celsius degrees. To withstand the extremetemperature fluctuations during the day and night on the lunar far side,protect its equipment, and prevent the occurrence of extreme situations, Yutu-2shifts between standby and awakening modes. Its temperature management devicecan keep its temperature safely below 55 Celsius degrees. Even in the standbymode, Yutu-2 can still transfer the information it collected to the earth withthe help of a relay satellite, Queqiao.

　　玉兔二号醒后的第一件工作，便是同嫦娥四号在中继星的帮助下，传回了互拍照片，同时月表的全景照也已经顺利完成了。

　　After its reawakening, Yutu-2first sent back the pictures of itself and Chang’e-4, with the help of therelay satellite. These pictures were taken by Chang’e-4 and Yutu-2 for eachother. Meanwhile, the panoramic image of the lunar surface has also been shotas planned.

　　另外，嫦娥四号搭载的棉花种子已经长出了嫩芽，长势良好，这是在经历月球低重力、强辐射、高温差等严峻环境考验后，在月球上长出的第一株植物嫩芽，实现了人类首次月面生物实验。

　　The cotton seeds Chang’e-4carries have sprouted and are in good shape. As the outcome of the firstbiosphere experiment on the moon, they withstood the harsh lunar environmentlike lower gravity, over radiation, and huge temperature fluctuations. They becamethe first plants ever grown on the moon.

　　今年底，“嫦娥家族”中的另一位成员---嫦娥五号也将飞往月球，进行采样后返回地面，这将会是一次新的突破。

　　At the end of this year,Chang’e-5, another member of the Chang’e family, is going to embark on anothervoyage to the moon. The mission of Chang'e-5 is to collect samples from themoon surface and then return to the earth. If successful, it will representanother breakthrough in human history.

来源：中国网

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