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China's Chang'e-5 mission returns Moon samples

中國嫦娥五號成功從月球帶回樣品

China's Chang'e-5 mission has returned to Earth with the cargo of rock and "soil" it picked up off the Moon.

中國的嫦娥五號已經成功將其從月球上採集的巖石及月壤樣品帶回地球。

A capsule carrying the materials landed in Inner Mongolia shortly after 01:30 local time on Thursday (17:30 GMT, Wednesday).

北京時間周四凌晨1:30左右，載著月球樣品的膠囊著陸倉成功在內蒙古著陸。

It's more than 40 years since the American Apollo and Soviet Luna missions brought their samples home.

自上一次美國阿波羅和蘇聯月神任務上次從月球帶回樣品，已有40多年時間。

The new specimens should provide fresh insight on the geology and early history of Earth's satellite.

這些最新的樣品可為深入研究這顆地球衛星的地質情況及早期歷史帶來更新的資料。

For China, the successful completion of the Chang'e-5 venture will also be seen as another demonstration of the nation's increasing capability in space.

對中國而言，嫦娥五號成功完成任務也是該國日益增長的空間實力的又一例證。

Recovery teams were quick to move in on the returned capsule. It was first spotted by helicopters using infrared cameras. Support staff following up in SUVs planted a Chinese flag in the snow-covered grassland next to the module.

搜查隊很快找到了返回著陸艙。著陸艙是由一架直升機利用紅外鏡頭最先發現的。工作人員很快駕駛SUV接近著陸艙，並在附近被雪覆蓋的草地上立起了中國國旗。

左圖：著陸器再次高速進入大氣層 右圖：著陸器打開降落傘準備著陸

歐空局在推特上對嫦娥五號著陸「現場直播」

The Chang'e-5 venture was launched at the end of November.

A probe comprising several elements was sent into orbit around the Moon. These elements then separated, with one half going down to the lunar surface.

嫦娥五號於11月底發射，隨後攜帶若干設備的探測器被送到了月球軌道。之後這些設備成功分離並在月球表面著陸。

The lander system used a scoop and a drill to dig up samples. It's not clear how much, but possibly in the range of 2-4kg.

隨後月球著陸器利用鏟子和鑽頭挖掘樣品，雖然不清楚具體重量，但預計在2-4千克左右。

An ascent vehicle subsequently carried the materials back into lunar orbit where they were transferred to an Earth-return module.

之後上升器帶著樣品返回月球軌道，並將樣品轉移到返回地球的軌道器與返回器組合體內。

Returning from the Moon, the Chang'e-5 module would have been moving much faster than, say, a capsule coming back from the International Space Station.

和從國際空間站著陸的返回艙相比，從月球歸來的嫦娥五號返回艙的速度要快得多。

Engineers had chosen to scrub some of this extra energy by doing an initial "skip" in the atmosphere. This saw the module briefly dip into the gases that shroud our planet, before then plunging much deeper to try to reach Earth's surface.

工程師們為了消耗掉這些額外的能量採取了「打水漂」的方式進入大氣層。返回艙會先稍微進入大氣層，然後彈出，之後再次真正進入大氣層嘗試著陸。

The Chang'e-5 capsule was targeted to float down on parachute to Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia. This is the same location used to bring Chinese astronauts home.

嫦娥五號的目標著陸地點是內蒙古四子王旗，這也是中國太空員此前著陸的地方。

Again, infrared cameras were on hand to follow the action by detecting the heat of the module.

紅外相機也隨時待命，通過感測熱量來捕捉返回艙的軌跡。

嫦娥五號與美國阿波羅任務取樣地點分布

A total of just under 400kg of lunar surface materials were collected by American Apollo astronauts and the Soviets' robotic Luna landers.

此前美國與蘇聯的探月計劃累計從月球帶回了接近400千克樣品。

But all these samples were very old - more than three billion years in age. Chang'e-5's rock and dust should be quite different.

但這些樣品都非常陳舊了，預計有30億年歷史。而本次嫦娥五號帶回的樣品應該會明顯不同。

The Chinese mission targeted a high volcanic region called Mons Rümker in the northwest of the nearside of the Moon.

嫦娥五號取樣的地方是月球西北方一塊叫做蒙斯魯姆克的小山，這裡曾經是火山。

Samples from this terrain may be no more than 1.2 or 1.3 billion years old, and, as such, should provide additional information on how the Moon is constructed internally.

這一區域的樣品應該不超過12-13億年歷史，若真如此的話，可以對月球內部構造提供更多信息。

The Moon is once again in vogue. America is planning on returning astronauts to the surface in the middle of this decade. A series of robotic spacecraft will land ahead of these human explorers to do reconnaissance.

月球又一次成為了熱土。美國計劃在這個十年中期將太空人重新送到月球，為此會先進行一系列的探測器月球著陸項目。

Some of these probes will be from national space agencies; some will be sent by commercial enterprises - including from the UK.

其中一些探測器可能由各國宇航局製造，而另一些則可能來自包括英國公司在內的商業企業。

Tony Azzarelli, director and co-founder of the UK industry space body Access Space Alliance, said exciting times lay ahead, and highlighted the start-up Spacebit's quest to put a rover on the lunar surface next year.

英國太空產業主體「進入太空聯盟」的總裁及聯合創始人託尼認為未來令人激動，並強調了初創企業Spacebit正計劃明年將一臺月球車送到月球表面。

"It'll be the first time that a legged robot will walk on another celestial world. Of course, all of these lunar missions are just a prelude to the return of humans to the Moon in the not-too-distant future," he told BBC News.

他接受BBC採訪時稱：「這將是第一次將步行機器人送到外星球。當然，這些探月任務都只是不遠的未來人類返回月球的序曲」