印度試圖與月球著陸器重新連接

印度試圖與月球著陸器重新連接

India's Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon launched a spacecraft carrying a rover on July 22, the start of a much-touted mission to explore the unexplored south pole of the moon.

7月22日，印度月球探測器“月船2號”發(fā)射了一艘搭載月球車的航天器，這是一項備受吹捧的探索月球南極任務(wù)的開始。

ISRO scientists work on the orbiter vehicle of Chandrayaan-2, India's first moon lander and rover mission, in Bangalore on June 2019. (Photo: MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The ending didn't go nearly as well.

結(jié)局不太好。

After a long journey, the lander approached the lunar surface on Sept. 7, but scientists from India's space agency lost contact with it mere moments ahead of the landing.

經(jīng)過長途旅行，著陸器于9月7日接近月球表面，但印度航天局的科學(xué)家在著陸前幾分鐘與它失去了聯(lián)系。

Now engineers and scientists from the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) are trying to reconnect with the lander to continue the mission.

現(xiàn)在，印度空間與研究組織(ISRO)的工程師和科學(xué)家正試圖與著陸器重新連接，繼續(xù)執(zhí)行任務(wù)。

The attempt to land was going as planned until the Vikram lander was about 2 kilometers above the moon's surface.

“維克拉姆”號著陸器在距離月球表面約2公里的地方著陸之前，著陸計劃一直按計劃進(jìn)行。

There's still hope that the lander and Pragyan rover didn't sustain substantial damage and can continue all or part of the mission.

仍然有希望著陸器和Pragyan漫游者沒有遭受嚴(yán)重?fù)p壞，能夠繼續(xù)全部或部分任務(wù)。

The latest report from ISRO revealed the lander had a hard landing but remains in one piece. However, it didn't land flat.

來自ISRO的最新報告顯示，著陸器有一次硬著陸，但仍然完好無損。然而，它沒有平著陸。

A successful landing would have put India in a elite group of nations that have accomplished a soft landing on the moon, including the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

如果成功著陸，印度將躋身于已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)月球軟著陸的精英國家之列，其中包括美國、前蘇聯(lián)和中國。

"The Chandrayaan-2 mission was a highly complex mission, which represented a significant technological leap," ISRO said in a statement. "The success criteria was defined for each and every phase of the mission and till date 90 to 95% of the mission objectives have been accomplished and will continue contribute to Lunar science."

印度空間研究組織在一份聲明中說:“月船2號任務(wù)是一個高度復(fù)雜的任務(wù)，它代表了一個重大的技術(shù)飛躍。”“成功的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是為任務(wù)的每一個階段定義的，到目前為止，任務(wù)的90%到95%的目標(biāo)已經(jīng)完成，并將繼續(xù)為月球科學(xué)做出貢獻(xiàn)。”

In addition to the lander and rover, the agency also included an orbiting spacecraft in the launch vehicle. The camera on the orbiter has the highest resolution camera (0.3m) in any lunar mission so far and will provide images for the global scientific community.

除了著陸器和漫游者，該機(jī)構(gòu)還在運(yùn)載火箭中包括一個軌道航天器。軌道飛行器上的相機(jī)擁有迄今為止月球任務(wù)中分辨率最高的相機(jī)(0.3米)，將為全球科學(xué)界提供圖像。

ISRO says the Chandrayaan-2 mission is "to foster a new age of discovery, increase our understanding of space, stimulate the advancement of technology, promote global alliances, and inspire a future generation of explorers and scientists."

印度空間研究組織說，“月船2號”的任務(wù)是“培育發(fā)現(xiàn)的新時代，增進(jìn)我們對太空的了解，促進(jìn)技術(shù)進(jìn)步，促進(jìn)全球聯(lián)盟，激勵未來一代的探險家和科學(xué)家。”

If space officials aren't able to reestablish a connection with the lander, this would be the second moon-bound mission of the year that has failed just before landing.

如果太空官員不能重建與著陸器的聯(lián)系，這將是今年第二次在著陸前失敗的登月任務(wù)。

In April, the Israeli Beresheet lunar lander also malfunctioned and failed just before touchdown; that lander was destroyed.

今年4月，以色列的貝雷舍特(Beresheet)月球著陸器在著陸前也出現(xiàn)了故障;那個著陸器被毀了。

However, this is far from the last attempt to reach the south pole of the moon. NASA is currently planning to send astronauts there in 2024.

然而，這遠(yuǎn)不是最后一次嘗試到達(dá)月球南極。美國宇航局目前計劃在2024年將宇航員送到那里。

There's a lot of interest in the south pole. Planetary scientists have received new data over the last decade that indicates there are water ice deposits on the south pole. Scientists believe these deposits could be used for life support and to manufacture rocket fuel for future deep-space missions.

人們對南極很感興趣。行星科學(xué)家們在過去十年中獲得了新的數(shù)據(jù)，表明南極存在水冰沉積物?？茖W(xué)家們相信這些沉積物可以用來維持生命，并為未來的深空任務(wù)制造火箭燃料。

The total cost for the Chandrayaan-2 mission has been estimated to be about $145 million. It has been in development for nearly a decade.

月船2號任務(wù)的總成本估計約為1.45億美元。它已經(jīng)開發(fā)了近十年。