周二，中国将一个装满月球背面土壤的储存装置送回地球，这是其雄心勃勃的月球和太阳系其他部分探测计划的最新成就。
On Tuesday, China returned a storage device filled with soil from the far side of the moon to Earth, marking the latest achievement in its ambitious plans to explore the moon and other parts of the solar system.
在历时53天的飞行任务后，中国国家航天局的嫦娥六号返回器送回了土壤样本，这凸显出中国在太空领域不断增强的能力，也是自2007年以来一系列月球探测任务中的又一次胜利，迄今为止这些任务都是几乎毫无瑕疵地得以完成。
After a 53-day mission, the return capsule of the China National Space Administration’s Chang'e 6 brought back soil samples, highlighting China's growing capabilities in space. This mission is another success in a series of lunar exploration missions since 2007, which have been nearly flawless so far.
“嫦娥六号是人类历史上第一次从月球背面带回样本的任务，”中国地质大学的行星地质学家肖龙在一封电子邮件中写道。“这对全世界的科学家来说都是一件大事，”他补充道，“也是全人类值得庆祝的事情。”
“Chang'e 6 is the first mission in human history to bring back samples from the far side of the moon,” wrote Xiao Long, a planetary geologist at China University of Geosciences, in an email. “This is a significant event for scientists worldwide,” he added, “and something all of humanity should celebrate.”
这种情绪和国际月球样本交换的前景凸显了外界的希望，即中国的月球和火星机器人探测任务将有助于促进对太阳系的科学理解。与此形成鲜明对比的是，华盛顿等方面的观点认为，周二的成就是21世纪具有地缘政治色彩的太空竞赛的最新里程碑。
This sentiment and the prospect of international lunar sample exchange highlight the hope that China's lunar and Mars robotic exploration missions will advance scientific understanding of the solar system. In contrast, Washington and others view Tuesday’s achievement as the latest milestone in a 21st-century geopolitically charged space race.
今年2月，一艘由私人运营的美国航天器登陆月球。为了让美国人重返月球表面，航空航天局也在推进阿耳忒弥斯计划，不过该计划的下一个任务——宇航员绕月飞行已因技术问题而被推迟。
In February, a privately operated American spacecraft landed on the moon. NASA is also advancing the Artemis program to return Americans to the lunar surface, though its next mission—astronauts orbiting the moon—has been delayed due to technical issues.
中国也在努力扩大在月球上的存在，未来几年里，将把更多的机器人送上月球，并最终实现宇航员登月。
China is also striving to expand its lunar presence, planning to send more robots to the moon in the coming years and eventually achieve manned lunar landings.
为了实现这一目标，中国采取了缓慢而稳健的方法，实施了提前数十年设计的机器人月球探索计划。该计划以中国月宫仙子嫦娥命名，其中前两次的任务是绕月飞行，对月球表面进行拍摄和绘制。随后，嫦娥三号于2013年登陆月球表面，并放出了玉兔一号月球车。2019年，嫦娥四号成为首个访问月球背面的航天器，并将玉兔二号月球车送上月球表面。
To achieve this goal, China has taken a slow and steady approach, implementing a robotic lunar exploration program designed decades in advance. Named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, the first two missions orbited the moon, photographing and mapping its surface. Chang'e 3 landed on the moon in 2013, deploying the Yutu 1 rover. In 2019, Chang'e 4 became the first spacecraft to visit the far side of the moon, deploying the Yutu 2 rover.
一年后，中国的嫦娥五号着陆月球，将1731克重的月球表面风化层样本送回地球。这一成就使中国成为继美国和苏联之后第三个实现从月球采集样本这一复杂轨道规划的国家。
A year later, China's Chang'e 5 landed on the moon, bringing back 1,731 grams of lunar regolith samples to Earth. This achievement made China the third country, after the United States and the Soviet Union, to accomplish the complex task of collecting samples from the moon.
据香港大学月球地质学家钱煜奇介绍，嫦娥五号和嫦娥六号的轨道操作都是中国未来载人登月任务的试运行，未来这些载人登月会像20世纪60年代和70年代的阿波罗任务一样，需要在月球表面着陆，然后让人类宇航员重新升空。
According to Qian Yuqi, a lunar geologist at the University of Hong Kong, the orbital operations of Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6 are trial runs for China's future manned lunar missions. These missions will need to land on the lunar surface and then send human astronauts back into space, similar to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.
中国致力于将宇航员送上月球，而其长期战略则是通过了解太阳系来获取科学利益。
China is committed to sending astronauts to the moon, with a long-term strategy to gain scientific benefits by understanding the solar system.
嫦娥五号样本比美国和苏联在20世纪60年代和70年代收集的月球物质更年轻。它主要由玄武岩或古代火山喷发的冷却熔岩组成。
The Chang'e 5 samples are younger than the lunar materials collected by the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s. They are primarily composed of basalt, or cooled lava from ancient volcanic eruptions.
两个由中国人领导的研究小组得出结论，认为这些玄武岩大约有20亿年的历史，这意味着月球上的火山活动比美国阿波罗号和苏联月球车样本推断的时间范围至少延长了10亿年。
Two research teams led by Chinese scientists concluded that these basalts are about 2 billion years old, extending the timeline of volcanic activity on the moon by at least 1 billion years beyond what was inferred from Apollo and Soviet Luna samples.
其他对该物质的研究排除了有关月球内部如何变暖到足以产生火山活动的理论。一个研究小组发现，月球内部的放射性元素含量不足以引起火山喷发，这些元素可能会衰变并产生热量。另一个研究结果排除了月幔中的水是导致火山活动的内部熔融的潜在来源这一可能性。
Other studies on this material ruled out theories about how the moon's interior could have warmed enough to generate volcanic activity. One team found that the moon's interior contains insufficient radioactive elements to cause volcanic eruptions by decay and heat production. Another study ruled out water in the mantle as a potential source for internal melting that leads to volcanic activity.
嫦娥六号于5月3日发射，其科学抱负更加宏大：从月球背面带回物质。月球的表面主要是广阔的黑暗平原，那里曾经流淌着古老的熔岩。但背面的平原较少。它还有更多的陨石坑和更厚的外壳。
Chang'e 6 was launched on May 3, with grander scientific ambitions: bringing back material from the far side of the moon. The surface of the moon is primarily vast dark plains where ancient lava once flowed. But the far side has fewer plains. It also has more craters and a thicker crust.
中国月球探测计划的未来任务计划于2024年启动，并将其进一步推向太阳系的边界。嫦娥七号任务将于2026年发射，它将携带一个轨道器和一台月球车对月球的南极进行更详细的研究。
Future missions in China’s lunar exploration program are set to launch in 2024, pushing further toward the edges of the solar system. The Chang'e 7 mission, scheduled for launch in 2026, will carry an orbiter and a rover for more detailed studies of the moon’s south pole.
中国的嫦娥八号任务将在2028年携带月球样本返回器、一个载人飞船系统的测试平台和一个国际科学站的试验组件。
China’s Chang'e 8 mission in 2028 will carry a lunar sample returner, a manned spaceship system test platform, and an experimental module for an international scientific station.
嫦娥六号上携带的三个国际有效载荷。一个由法国研究人员开发的仪器，用于研究月球表面的电磁环境。一个由瑞典空间物理研究所设计的仪器，用于分析太阳风如何剥离月球上的电子。最后，由意大利团队设计的激光反射器将帮助测量地球和月球之间的距离。
Chang'e 6 carries three international payloads. One instrument, developed by French researchers, studies the electromagnetic environment on the lunar surface. Another, designed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, analyzes how the solar wind strips electrons from the moon. Finally, a laser reflector designed by an Italian team will help measure the distance between the Earth and the moon.
虽然来自月球的物质可以揭示有关月球起源的更多信息，但一个载人任务仍是科学界最期待的任务，这与美国和中国的长期竞争类似。中国计划到2030年将宇航员送上月球表面。美国宇航局正在推动其阿耳忒弥斯计划，目标是2025年实现同样的目标。
While material from the moon can reveal more about its origins, a manned mission remains the most anticipated task in the scientific community, paralleling the long-standing competition between the United States and China. China plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. NASA is advancing its Artemis program, aiming for the same goal by 2025.
嫦娥六号返回舱带回了2公斤左右的月球背面样本，这些样本将与科学家们进行研究，这也是这一任务最大的成就之一。肖龙教授说，“希望这些样本将为月球演化的理论提供新的证据。”
The Chang'e 6 return capsule brought back about 2 kilograms of samples from the far side of the moon, which scientists will study. This is one of the mission’s most significant achievements. “Hopefully, these samples will provide new evidence for theories about lunar evolution,” said Professor Xiao Long.