20190910Mission

Plan for First US Mission to the Moon Since Apollo Landing

自阿波罗登陆月球之后美国首次登陆月球任务的计划

The first American spacecraft expected to land on the moon in nearly 50 years will be an unmanned robotic lander.

将近五十年后预计首个登陆月球的美国航天器将是一架无人驾驶机器人着落器。

The aerospace company Astrobotic Technology told Reuters it expects to launch the spacecraft named Peregrine in the summer of 2021 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The company said Peregrine will be the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since Apollo astronauts last touched down there in 1972. The mission will bring technology and experiments to the moon to prepare for human flights by 2024.

航空航天公司Astrobotic Technology告诉路透社它期望于2021年的夏天从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角发射名为Peregrine的航天器。该公司表示Peregrine将成为既阿波罗宇航员于1972年在月球着陆之后首个即将登陆月球的航天器。这项任务将把科技和实验带到月球以为2024年人类的飞行做准备。

The spacecraft will use the Vulcan rocket developed by an alliance between U.S. aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Tory Bruno is chief executive of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Bruno told Reuters, “Our first flight on Vulcan is also the first big step in going back to the moon.”

这架航天器将使用美国两家航空航天公司Boeing和Lockheed Martin的联盟开发的Vulcan火箭。特洛·布鲁诺是联合发射联盟（ULA）的首席执行官。布鲁诺告诉路透社，“我们乘载Vulcan的首次飞行也将是重返月球的第一大步。”

The Vulcan rocket was selected over the reusable rocket from SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk of carmaker Tesla. It is powered by engines from Blue Origin, a company started by Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Blue Origin also is working on a heavy-lift rocket.

Vulcan火箭从SpaceX的可重复使用火箭被选出。  SpaceX是特斯拉汽车制造商埃隆·马斯克持有的一家公司。它由公司Blue Origin提供的引擎提供动力。Blue Origin是由亚马逊的杰夫·贝佐斯开的一家公司。Blue Origin也在致力于一种重型火箭的研究。

Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of nine companies chosen by the American space agency NASA to develop vehicles and technology to explore the lunar surface over the next ten years.

Astrobotic公司位于宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡。它是被美国太空机构NASA选中去研发运载工具和科技以用于在未来十年探索月球表面的九家公司之一。

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is pushing private companies to design and develop technology for low-Earth orbit and lunar exploration. He wants NASA to be one of many customers for the technology and to prepare for deeper space exploration.

NASA的管理人员吉姆·布里登斯丁正在助力私营公司去为近地轨道何月球探索设计和研发科技。他想让NASA成为这项技术的众多客户之一并且为更深层次的太空探索做准备。

For ULA, the launch serves as the first of two certification flights for the U.S. Air Force. Vulcan will replace the older Delta and Atlas rockets. Those rockets have been used for space missions and by the U.S. military for many years.

对于美国联合发射联盟来说，这次发射是美国空军两次认证飞行中的第一次。Vulcan将取代以往的德尔塔和阿特拉斯火箭系列。这些火箭已经被多次用于太空任务并服务于美国军队很多年。

As the U.S. prepares to return to the moon, other countries have launched their own missions to the moon.

当美国为重返月球做准备时，其他国家也向月球发射了他们自己的任务。

In January, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft successfully touched down on the far side of the moon. An Israeli robotic lander, however, crashed on its final descent in April. And India landed a Chandrayaan-2 rover in July. The vehicle is on its way to the moon’s south pole, unexplored by any other nation.

在1月份一架无人驾驶中国太空飞船成功降落在月球的远端。然而以色列的无人驾驶着陆器在4月的最后一次降落中坠毁。今年7月，印度的“月船2号”在月球着陆。这家飞行器正在前往月球南极的路上，而其他国家从未探索过月球南极。

I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

小马里奥·里特为您报道。

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Words in This Story

aerospace –adj. describing the industry of making vehicles that travel in the atmosphere and in space

customer –n. a person or organization that buys goods and services from businesses

certification –n. the process of gaining official approval to do something like carrying out a business or doing a task

mission –n. a flight or a spacecraft designed to carry out a task