據最新消息，中國正與歐洲航天局等機構探討建設「月球村」。除了將來可用作國際發射臺之外，「月球村」還將為開發太空旅遊、甚至月球採礦提供機遇。
| FILE PHOTO: An airplane of German air carrier Lufthansa passes the moon over Frankfurt, Germany, April 9, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD SEARCH GLOBAL BUSINESS 24 APR FOR ALL IMAGES |
Representatives of China and the European Space Agency are discussing potential collaboration on a human outpost on the moon and other possible joint endeavors, according to a spokesman for the European agency and Chinese media reports.
據歐洲航天局一位發言人和中國媒體的消息，來自中方和歐洲航天局的代表正在探討合作建立月球基地的計劃，以及其他可能的合作項目。
The secretary general for China's space agency, Tian Yulong, first disclosed the talks about the envisioned lunar base in Chinese state media. They were confirmed Wednesday by Pal Hvistendahl, a spokesman for the European Space Agency, or ESA.
中國國家航天局秘書長田玉龍最先在中國官方媒體披露了有關建立月球基地的探討。4月26日，歐洲航天局發言人赫韋斯滕達證實了這一消息。
"The Chinese have a very ambitious moon program already in place," Hvistendahl said. "Space has changed since the space race of the '60s. We recognize that to explore space for peaceful purposes, we do international cooperation."
赫韋斯滕達說：「中方已經有雄心勃勃的月球計劃。上世紀60年代太空競賽以來，航天領域已經發生了變化。我們認識到，為了以和平目的探索太空，我們要進行國際合作。」
The director general of the 22-member ESA, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, has described its proposed "Moon Village" as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars and a chance to develop space tourism or even lunar mining.
歐洲航天局局長沃爾納稱，除了作為將來可能用作火星任務的國際發射臺，計劃中的「月球村」還將為開發太空旅遊、甚至月球採礦提供機遇。歐洲航天局共有22個成員國。
China arrived relatively late to space travel but has ramped up its program since its first manned spaceflight in 2003, more than 42 years after a Soviet cosmonaut became the first to reach orbit.
雖然中國的太空之旅開展相對較晚，但自2003年首次實現載人航天飛行以來，中國加快了太空項目的步伐。1961年，前蘇聯一位太空人成為第一個進入太空的人。
Last week the China National Space Administration launched an unmanned spacecraft on a mission to dock with its space station. It plans to launch a mission to collect samples from the moon by the end of this year and next year conduct the first mission to the moon's far side and bring back mineral samples.
上周，中國國家航天局發射一艘無人貨運飛船，並將與空間實驗室對接。今年年底，中國計劃發射太空飛行器前往月球取樣，明年將發射探測器登陸月球背面，並帶回礦物樣本，這將系人類首次。
The ESA hopes to conduct a mission analysis on samples brought back by this year's Chinese mission, known as Chang'e 5, and also have a European flying on the Chinese space station at some future date, Hvistendahl said.
赫韋斯滕達表示，歐洲航天局希望對「嫦娥五號」今年將帶回的樣本進行分析，並在將來派太空人前往中國的空間站。
英文來源：美聯社
翻譯&編審：yaning