美國宇航局再次推遲韋伯太空望遠鏡的發射
By Bryan Lynn
20 July 2020
NASA says it has postponed the launch of its newest space telescope because of the coronavirus crisis and technical issues.
美國宇航局表示，由於新冠病毒危機以及技術問題，其最新太空望遠鏡的發射已經推遲。
The U.S. space agency says the launch of its James Webb Space Telescope is now planned for October 31, 2021. The launch has been delayed many times. Before the recent postponement, it had been set for March 2021.
美國宇航局表示，其詹姆斯·韋伯太空望遠鏡現在計劃於2021年10月31日發射。該太空望遠鏡的發射已經推遲了很多次。在最近這次推遲之前，它原定於2021年3月發射。
The Webb is supposed to replace NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for 30 years.
韋伯太空望遠鏡本該取代美國宇航局已經運行了30年的哈勃太空望遠鏡。
NASA has identified the new telescope as a top science priority. The large infrared telescope has a nearly seven-meter mirror for exploring space. It is designed to look deeper into space and offer more answers about the past than any other spacecraft.
美國宇航局已經將這臺新的太空望遠鏡確定為首要科學任務。這臺大型紅外望遠鏡配備了近7米口徑的反射鏡用於探索太空。它旨在比其它任何太空飛行器更深入地探索太空，並提供有關宇宙過往的更多答案。
The James Webb Space Telescope was first set to fly more than 10 years ago, but has faced major development delays. Its last planned liftoff was canceled in 2018.
韋伯太空望遠鏡最初定於10多年前發射，但是遇到了重大的開發延誤。它上一次計劃升空於2018年被取消。
NASA officials said things seemed to be progressing well for the March launch date until the coronavirus hit. NASA said restrictions related to the health crisis had slowed work on the telescope by its main maker, America's Northrop Grumman.
美國宇航局官員表示，明年3月發射的各項工作似乎進展很順利，直到新冠病毒襲來。美國宇航局表示，與這次健康危機相關的各種限制措施延緩了其主要製造商美國諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司對望遠鏡的開發工作。
"Mission success is critical, but team safety is our highest priority," NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk told The Associated Press.
美國宇航局副局長史蒂夫·尤爾齊克對美聯社表示：「任務成功至關重要，但是團隊安全是我們的第一要務。」
Thomas Zurbuchen is with NASA's Science Mission Directorate. He said, "Webb is the world's most complex space observatory, and our top science priority, and we've worked hard to keep progress moving during the pandemic."
託馬斯·澤布臣任職於美國宇航局科學任務理事會。他說：「韋伯太空望遠鏡是世界上最複雜的太空觀測站，也是我們的首要科學任務，在新冠疫情大流行期間，我們一直在努力保持進展。」
NASA noted that costs related to the latest postponement would not be greater than the $8.8 billion spending limit for development on the project set by Congress.
美國宇航局指出，最近這次推遲的相關費用不會超過國會為該項目設定的88億美元的開發支出限額。
Officials say several important tests will be carried out on the telescope in the coming months. The project team will also seek to reopen and refold Webb's massive sun shield one last time. The shield is needed to keep the infrared telescope cold in space.
官員們表示，未來幾個月將對這臺太空望遠鏡進行幾項重要測試。項目團隊還將尋求最後一次重新打開並重新摺疊韋伯太空望遠鏡的大型遮光罩。必須使用遮光罩讓紅外太空望遠鏡在太空中維持低溫。
NASA plans to transport the telescope next summer to its launch site in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America. The Guiana Space Centre is a French and European Space Agency launch site.
美國宇航局計劃於明年夏天將這臺太空望遠鏡運送到位於南美東北海岸的法屬蓋亞那的發射場。蓋亞那航天中心是法國和歐洲航天局的發射場。
After the launch, Webb will travel 1.5 million kilometers from Earth to orbit the sun. It will unfold the sun shield and deploy its mirror, which is designed to look for signs of light from far-away stars and galaxies.
韋伯太空望遠鏡在發射之後將從地球飛出去150萬公裡，然後繞太陽公轉。它將打開遮光罩並展開其反射鏡，該反射鏡旨在尋找遙遠的恆星和星系發出的光的跡象。
Eric Smith is a NASA program scientist with the Webb program. He said the telescope will seek to observe "light from the first generation of galaxies that formed in the early universe after the Big Bang." Webb is also designed to study the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets for possible signs of life.
埃裡克·史密森是美國宇航局參與韋伯計劃的科學家。他說，該太空望遠鏡將試圖觀察「來自於宇宙大爆炸後早期宇宙中形成的第一代星系的光。」韋伯太空望遠鏡還旨在研究附近系外行星的大氣，以尋找潛在的生命跡象。
NASA says it plans to keep the Hubble and Webb telescopes operating together for a time.
美國宇航局稱其計劃讓哈勃與韋伯太空望遠鏡一起運行一段時間。
Smith noted that while Webb will be exploring new things, it will also be looking at many of the same things that Hubble did. "For me, it will be seeing old friends with completely new eyes," Smith said.
史密森指出，儘管韋伯太空望遠鏡將會探索新事物，但是它也將研究哈勃太空望遠鏡做過的很多事情。史密森表示：「對我而言，這將是以嶄新的目光見到老朋友。」
I'm Bryan Lynn.
我是布萊恩·琳恩。
priority – n. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done first
infrared – n. technical: producing or using rays of light that cannot be seen and that are longer than rays that produce red light
mirror – n. a piece of glass with metallic material on one side that produces an image of anything in front of it
pandemic – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people
shield – n. an object used to protect something
refold – v. a process in which the sides of something are folded on top of each other to make it smaller
site – n. place where something happens
galaxy – n. a large group of stars from the same universe
Big Bang – n. the large explosion that many scientists believed created the universe
exoplanet – n. planets that orbit a star outside the solar system
*內容來源51VOA.COM原創翻譯，侵刪~