（双语文稿）日本登月飞行器成功着陆，但失去动力

Japan on Friday became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. The mission's aim was to carry out an exact landing and to collect information about the Earth's only natural satellite.
周五，日本成为第五个将宇宙飞船送上月球的国家。这次任务的目的是进行精确着陆，并收集地球这个唯一的天然卫星的信息。
Japan's space agency, known as JAXA, said its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, called SLIM, landed on the moon's surface at 15:20 UTC Friday. It then re-established communication with Earth. But its solar panels were not able to create electricity, possibly because they are pointed in the wrong direction.
日本宇宙航空研究开发机构(JAXA)表示，其名为SLIM的智能月球探测着陆器于周五世界标准时间15:20降落在月球表面。然后，它重新与地球建立了通信，但它的太阳能电池板无法发电，可能是因为它们朝向错误。
"SLIM is now operating only on its battery, and we are prioritizing the transfer of its data to Earth," Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of JAXA's research center, told reporters.
JAXA研究中心负责人国中仁(Hitoshi Kuninaka)告诉记者:“SLIM目前仅靠电池运行，我们正在优先考虑将其数据传输到地球。”
A battery is a device that stores electricity.
电池是一种储存电的装置。
Space officials are attempting to save power by turning off equipment like its heaters. But SLIM's battery only lasts "a few hours."
太空机构官员正试图通过关闭加热器等设备来节省电力，但是SLIM的电池只能维持“几个小时”。
JAXA hopes a change in the sun's position in the sky will cause the panels to receive sunlight to power the vehicle, Kuninaka said. He added that it takes 30 days for the direction of sunlight to change on the moon.
JAXA希望太阳在天空中的位置发生变化，从而使太阳能电池板接收到阳光，为飞行器提供动力。他补充说，月球上的阳光方向需要30天的时间才能改变。
SLIM attempted to land within 100 meters of its target, instead of within several kilometers. JAXA said this exact landing technology will become a powerful tool in the search for oxygen, fuel, and water on the moon.
SLIM试图在距离目标100米的范围内着陆，而不是在几公里范围内。JAXA表示，这种精确着陆技术将成为在月球上寻找氧气、燃料和水的有力工具。
Landings on the moon
登陆月球
Japan aims to play a bigger part in space, partnering with ally the United States. Japan is also home to several private space companies. JAXA aims to send an astronaut to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program in the next few years.
日本的目标是与盟友美国合作，在太空领域发挥更大的作用。日本也是几家私人航天公司的所在地。JAXA的目标是在未来几年内将一名宇航员送上月球，这是美国宇航局阿尔忒弥斯计划的一部分。
But the Japanese space agency has recently faced several setbacks in rocket development. They include the launch failure in March of its new H3 rocket which is meant to compete with rockets made by private companies like SpaceX.
但日本航天局最近在火箭开发方面遭遇了几次挫折，其中包括3月份发射失败的新型H3火箭，该火箭旨在与SpaceX等私营公司制造的火箭竞争。
The failure caused delays in Japan's space missions, including SLIM and joint moon exploration with India. India made a historic landing on the moon's most southern point with its Chandrayaan-3 probe.
这次失败导致日本的太空任务推迟，包括SLIM与印度的联合月球探测。印度发射“月船3号”探测器，历史性地在月球最南端着陆。
JAXA has twice landed on asteroids, but the moon's gravity makes landing on it more difficult, its scientists said. Three missions to the moon by Japanese company ispace, Russia's space agency, and American company Astrobotic have failed in the past year.
JAXA的科学家说，JAXA已经两次在小行星上着陆，但月球的重力使着陆变得更加困难。去年，日本太空公司、俄罗斯航天局和美国太空机器人公司的三次探月任务均以失败告终。
Only four nations, the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India, have successfully carried out a soft landing on the moon. No private company has been able to do it.
只有前苏联、美国、中国和印度四个国家成功实现了月球软着陆，还没有一家私营公司能够做到这一点。
SLIM measures 2.4 meters by 2.7 meters—about the size of a car. It has two main engines, along with 12 smaller thrusters. It also includes equipment like solar cells, radar, and cameras.
SLIM长2.4米，宽2.7米，大约是一辆汽车的大小。它有两个主发动机，以及12个较小的推进器。它还包括太阳能电池、雷达和照相机等设备。
SLIM weighed 700 kilograms at launch. That is less than half the weight of India's Chandrayaan-3.
SLIM在发射时重700公斤，这还不到印度月船3号重量的一半。
As the probe got closer to the surface, it was designed to compare its camera's images with satellite photos of the moon. JAXA has said this method permits an exact landing.
随着探测器越来越接近月球表面，它的设计目的是将相机拍摄的图像与卫星拍摄的月球照片进行比较。JAXA表示，这种方法可以精确着陆。
On landing, reports say SLIM successfully released two small robot probes. One moves by taking small jumps, or hops. The other is an even smaller baseball-sized wheeled vehicle. Sony Group and toy company Tomy, and several Japanese universities developed the robots.
报道称，SLIM在着陆时成功释放了两个小型机器人探测器，一个通过跳跃来移动，另一个是更小的棒球大小的轮式车辆。索尼集团和玩具公司Tomy以及几所日本大学开发了这些机器人。
SLIM was launched on Japan's H-IIA rocket in September. It has taken a fuel-saving four-month trip to the moon.
SLIM于9月由日本的H-IIA火箭发射升空，经过四个月的节能之旅到达月球。
I'm Gregory Stachel.