This computer-generated image shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. This weekend, the sample collected by the spacecraft arrived on Earth after a six-year mission.
這張由計算機生成的圖像顯示了隼鳥2號飛船在小行星琉璃谷上空。本周末，飛船收集的樣本在完成六年的任務後抵達地球。
Updated at 5:05 p.m. ET
東部時間下午5:05更新
A Japanese space capsule ferrying sample material from an asteroid — the bounty from a six-year mission spanning billions of miles — made its triumphant return to Earth this weekend.
日本一艘運載小行星樣本的太空艙於本周末成功返回地球，這是一次為期六年、跨越數十億英裡的飛行任務。
The small capsule that had detached from the Hayabusa2 space probe landed in the vicinity of the town of Woomera, in the Australian Outback, early Sunday Japan time. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, which spearheaded the mission, said a helicopter found the capsule in the planned landing area.
日本時間周日早些時候，從「隼鳥2號」太空探測器上脫落的小型太空艙降落在澳大利亞內陸的伍默拉鎮附近。率先執行任務的日本宇宙航空研究開發機構（Japan aeroscopy Exploration Agency，簡稱JAXA）說，一架直升機在計劃的著陸區發現了太空艙。
"We found the capsule! Together with the parachute! Wow! " JAXA tweeted just after 3 p.m. ET.
「我們找到了太空艙！和降落傘一起！哇！」美國東部時間下午3點過後，日本宇宙航空研究開發機構在推特上發布消息。
Inside the capsule is just a little bit of dust and dirt with potentially grand ramifications. It comes from Ryugu, a jet black asteroid roughly one mile wide, which orbits the sun between Earth and Mars, roughly 180 million miles from our planet.
太空艙裡只有一點點灰塵和灰塵，可能會產生巨大的後果。它來自Ryugu，一顆大約1英裡寬的黑色小行星，在地球和火星之間圍繞太陽運行，距離我們的星球大約1.8億英裡。
Researchers expect the sample to contain organic matter similar to the early space rocks that combined to make planets, which, with careful study, may offer a glimpse of the mysterious processes that turned the universe into what it is today. In other words, JAXA explains, scientists hope that by examining the sample, they may "approach the secrets of the birth of the solar system and the birth of life."
研究人員預計，樣本中含有的有機物與早期形成行星的太空巖石相似，經過仔細研究，這些有機物或許能讓我們窺見宇宙變成今天這個樣子的神秘過程。換句話說，日本宇宙航空研究開發機構解釋說，科學家們希望通過檢查樣本，他們可以「接近太陽系誕生和生命誕生的秘密」
Scientists have studied the composition of asteroids before. But usually the material they're looking at has been radically changed by its arrival on Earth, after the rocks are burned up by atmospheric entry and tainted by other matter it touches after landing. This sample, taken directly from the asteroid and protected by the capsule, should offer scientists a more accurate view of the organic matter in its natural state.
科學家以前研究過小行星的組成。但通常，他們所觀察的物質在到達地球後已經發生了根本性的變化，因為這些巖石在著陸後被大氣進入而燒焦，並被其他物質汙染。這個直接從小行星上採集並由太空艙保護的樣本，應該能讓科學家們更準確地觀察到自然狀態下的有機物。
JAXA crew members set up antennas last month in Woomera, South Australia. The setup is meant to help researchers locate a proverbial needle in a haystack after the sample lands.
上個月，日本宇宙航空研究開發機構的工作人員在南澳大利亞的伍默拉安裝了天線。這個裝置的目的是幫助研究人員在樣本落地後避免大海撈針尋找。
On its return trip, the capsule containing the sample separated from Hayabusa2 more than 130,000 miles from Earth — a distance that would get you more than halfway from your home to the moon.
在回程中，裝有樣本的太空艙與隼鳥2號分離，距離地球超過13萬英裡——這段距離將使你從家到月球的距離超過一半。
JAXA took little chance in recovering the 16-inch diameter capsule. The search operations involved at least five antennas, a helicopter and the support of the Australian space agency and military.
日本宇宙航空研究開發機構幾乎沒有機會回收直徑為16英寸的太空艙。搜索行動涉及至少五個天線、一架直升機以及澳大利亞航天局和軍方的支持。
The specimens, which are estimated to weigh 1 gram in total, include the world's first subsurface asteroid sample. Scientists hope the primordial materials will help further research into the origin of life on Earth and the evolution of the solar system.
這些樣本估計總重量為1克，其中包括世界上第一個地下小行星樣本。科學家們希望這些原始材料將有助於進一步研究地球上生命的起源和太陽系的演化。
Masaki Fujimoto, deputy director-general of JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, told reporters on Friday local time that researchers will move quickly to get the capsule, once located, over to an Australian Department of Defense facility for inspection.
日本宇宙航空研究開發機構太空與宇宙航行科學研究所副所長藤本正二（Masaki Fujimoto）當地時間周五對記者表示，研究人員將迅速行動，將太空艙一旦找到，送往澳大利亞國防部進行一個設施進行檢查。
"We don't want to miss anything," he said at a briefing, according to a translation by Japanese media, "so as soon as the capsule is back to the headquarter building we can extract the gas sample so the best science can be obtained from the precious sample we are returning from asteroid Ryugu."
「我們不想錯過任何東西，」他在一次簡報會上說，根據日本媒體的翻譯，「所以一旦太空艙返回總部大樓，我們就可以提取氣體樣本，這樣我們就可以從我們從琉球小行星返回的珍貴樣本中獲得最佳科學知識。」
This will not be the end of the line for Hayabusa2, however. The spacecraft will not follow the capsule back to Earth but rather continue on to another asteroid traveling between Earth and Mars, which it is expected to reach by 2031.
不過，這並不是隼鳥2號的終點。太空船將不會跟隨太空艙返回地球，而是繼續前往地球與火星之間的另一顆小行星，預計2031年到達火星。