Chang’e-5: Why has China sent a probe to collect soils from the moon?
嫦娥五号：为什么要去月球“挖土”？
林晓洁 供稿
China has successfully launched its Chang'e-5 lunar mission on November 24 to collect rocks from the moon — the first attempt by any country since the 1970s.
11月24日，中国成功发射了嫦娥五号，本次任务的目标为采集月球岩石，这是自上世纪70年代以来人类的首次尝试。
The mission is to bring back 2kg of drilled and scooped samples to Earth. Recent failed landings on the Moon by an Israeli privately funded mission and the Indian Vikram lander show just how challenging such missions still are.
这次任务将带回2公斤钻取的月壤样本。最近以色列私人资助的登月计划和印度的“维克拉姆号”登月计划都失败了，这表明此类任务仍然具有极大的挑战性。
Chang'e-5 probe comprises an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner. It is intended to collect samples from Mons Rümker in the Oceanus Procellarum Mare region of the Moon’s nearside.
嫦娥五号探测器由轨道器、着陆器、上升器和返回器组成。它计划从位于月球正面的月海风暴洋北部吕姆克山脉附近收集样本。
Its lander features multiple cameras, a spectrometer to assess the composition of the soil near the spacecraft and a ground-penetrating radar. A robot arm is equipped with a percussive drill and scoop to pick up excavated rock and soil.
嫦娥五号的着陆器装有多个摄像头，一个用于检测航天器附近土壤成分的光谱仪，以及一个探地雷达。机械臂装备有冲击钻机和铲子，用来收集挖掘出的岩石和土壤。
Working by remote control from Earth, engineers will use the arm to move collected samples up to the ascent vehicle, which then will blast off, rendezvous with the Chang'e 5 orbiter and transfer the sample to the return craft for the trip back to Earth, an unprecedented feat.
工程师们通过在地球上远程控制，将该机械臂收集到的样本转移到上升器上。随后上升器将在空中与轨道器对接，并将样本转移到返回器上返回地球，这是一项前所未有的壮举。
The mission will last more than 20 days. Landing in Inner Mongolia is expected around December 16. The samples will be transferred to specially equipped laboratories for analysis.
本次任务将持续20多天，嫦娥五号将于12月16日左右在内蒙古着陆。样本将被转移到装备特殊仪器的实验室进行分析。
Why Do We Collect Lunar Soils？
为什么要采集月壤?
Rocks and soil at the Chang'e 5’s landing site are expected to date back about 1.1 billion years, much younger than the rocks collected by the Apollo astronauts.
嫦娥五号着陆点附近的月岩和月壤预估有11亿年的历史，比阿波罗号宇航员收集的样本要短得多。
Study of rock and soil samples from the Moon will yield useful information about the early history of the Moon, the Earth, and the inner solar system. If the mission succeeds, planetary scientists will be able to test some key theories about the origin of the Moon and the inner Solar System’s rocky planets.
对月岩和月壤样本的研究将提供有关月球、地球和内太阳系早期历史的有用信息。如果任务成功，行星科学家将能够验证一些关于月球和内太阳系岩质行星起源的关键理论。
These samples could also set the foundation for more complex sample retrieval missions in the future, potentially on other planets.
这些样本还可能为未来在其他行星上进行更复杂的样本回收任务奠定基础。
【VOCABULARY】
1. scoop v. & n.（用勺）舀；（用铲）铲；铲子
2. comprise v. 包含；由……组成
3. spectrometer n. 分光计；波长、能量、强烈程度等可以被测量的产生光谱的仪器
4. percussive adj.（声音）叩击的；敲击的；打击的
5. feat n. 功绩；英勇事迹