第2091期:Japanese Spacecraft Regains Power after Moon Landing

Japan’s space agency says a spacecraft that landed on the moon earlier this month has regained power and is continuing its mission.

日本宇宙航空研究开发机构表示，本月早些时候登陆月球的航天器已恢复动力并继续执行任务。

Officials from the Japan Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Monday they had successfully reestablished communication with the SLIM moon explorer.

日本研究开发机构 (JAXA) 的官员周一表示，他们已成功与 SLIM 月球探测器重新建立了联系。

SLIM touched down on the moon on January 20. But the spacecraft landed the wrong way up. Its solar equipment was unable to see the sun. JAXA said SLIM was likely able to regain power because of a change in the sun’s direction.

SLIM 于 1 月 20 日登陆月球。但飞船着陆方向错误。 它的太阳能设备看不到太阳。 JAXA表示，由于太阳方向的变化，SLIM很可能能够重新获得电力。

After the landing, JAXA used the spacecraft’s battery power to gather as much data as possible about the touchdown and the surrounding area. The power was then turned off to wait for the sun to rise higher in the lunar sky.

着陆后，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构利用航天器的电池电源收集尽可能多的有关着陆和周围区域的数据。 然后关闭电源，等待太阳在月球天空中升得更高。

Mission officials have said the explorer landed within 55 meters of its target near the lunar equator. It also landed in between two craters in an area covered in volcanic rock. JAXA said these results demonstrated progress in what it calls “pinpoint” landing technology.

任务官员表示，探测器在月球赤道附近着陆，距离目标不到 55 米。 它还降落在火山岩覆盖的区域的两个陨石坑之间。 JAXA表示，这些结果证明了所谓的“精确”着陆技术的进展。

Past moon missions generally aimed to hit flat areas at least 10 kilometers wide. But the ability to land on very exact targets is expected to help support future space vehicles traveling to the moon and other places.

过去的月球任务通常旨在撞击至少 10 公里宽的平坦区域。 但降落在非常精确的目标上的能力预计将有助于支持未来前往月球和其他地方的太空飞行器。

The main purpose of the mission was to test the possibility that spacecraft can land on very specific targets. But SLIM is also capturing images and released two small explorers. The explorers are designed to examine mineral-rich rocks and collect data on the moon’s development.

此次任务的主要目的是测试航天器降落在特定目标上的可能性。 但SLIM也在捕捉图像并释放了两个小型探索者。 这些探测器的目的是检查富含矿物质的岩石并收集有关月球发展的数据。

JAXA has not named a specific date for when SLIM will end its operations on the moon. But the agency has said in the past that the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. The next lunar night begins on Thursday.

JAXA 尚未指定 SLIM 结束月球运行的具体日期。 但该机构过去曾表示，着陆器的设计不能适应月球之夜。 下一个阴历之夜从星期四开始。

The mission made Japan the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the surface of the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

这次任务使日本成为继美国、苏联、中国和印度之后世界上第五个成功登陆月球表面的国家。