美联社对天宫一号发射的报道——109楼补充美国网民评论

原创翻译，原文链接http://www.washingtonpost.com/wo ... QARwT56K_story.html

China launches first experimental module for future space station
中国为未来空间站发射首枚试验性模块

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, September 29, 10:59 AM
美联社9月29日

BEIJING — China launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station on Thursday, underscoring its ambitions to become a major space power over the coming decade.

北京——中国在周四发射了一枚试验性模块，为未来的空间站打下基础，彰显了中国要在未来十余年内成为主要航天强国的雄心。

The box car-sized Tiangong-1 module was shot into space from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert aboard a Long March 2FT1 rocket.

类似火车货车厢大小的天宫一号由长征2FT1型火箭从位于戈壁滩边的酒泉发射中心送入太空。

It is to move into an orbit 217 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth and conduct surveys of Chinese farmland using special cameras, along with experiments involving growing crystals in zero gravity.

天宫一号在离地350公里的轨道上运行，将使用特殊相机巡视中国农田，并进行在失重状态下培养晶体的实验。

China then plans to launch an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to practice remote-controlled docking maneuvers with the module, possibly within the next few weeks. Two more missions, at least one of them manned, are to meet up with it next year for further practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month.

中国有可能在未来数周内发射神舟八号无人飞船，用以演练遥控对接天宫一号的技术。明年还有另外两次飞行（至少有一次载人），进一步练习与天宫的对接，航天员们最多可在太空舱内停留一个月。

The 8.5-ton module, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace-1,” is to stay aloft for two years, after which two other experimental modules are to be launched for additional tests before the actual station is launched in three sections between 2020 and 2022.

这一重达8.5吨的模块（原文解释中文意思为天庭）将在轨两年，此后，另外两座天宫将发射做进一步的实验。2020年至2022年，真正的空间站将分三段升空。

“This is a significant test. We’ve never done such a thing before,” Lu Jinrong, the launch center’s chief engineer, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

酒泉发射中心总工程师陆晋荣对官方新华社表示：＂这是一个重大考验，以前我们从未做过这样的事。＂

The space station, which is yet to be formally named, is the most ambitious project in China’s exploration of space, which also calls for landing on the moon, possibly with astronauts.

尚未命名的新空间站是中国空间探测计划中最为雄心勃勃的项目，该计划还要求实施登月——有可能是载人登月。

In terms of technology, the launch of the Tiangong-1 places China about where the U.S. was in the 1960s during the Gemini program. While it is planning fewer launches than the U.S. carried out, the Chinese program progresses farther than the U.S. did with each launch it undertakes, said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space expert at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. “China has the advantage, 40-plus years later, of not having to start at the bottom of the learning curve on its human spaceflight program,” Johnson-Freese said.

从技术角度来看，天宫一号的发射相当于美国在上世纪六十年代Gemini计划时期的水平。美国海战学院航天专家Joan Johnson-Freese指出，中国计划的发射次数要比美国少，他们每次发射对航天规划的推动要超过美国，中国拥有40余年的后发优势，他们的载人航天不必从在底层摸索的阶段起步。

China’s authoritarian, centralized political system also offers the advantage of freedom from political wrangles over funding and clearly defines the program’s long-term goals within Soviet-style five-year plans.

中国专制集中的政治体制有着下列优势：将航天计划从有关预算的党派纷争中隔离出来，并在苏式五年计划中为航天制定清晰的长期目标。

China launched its first manned flight in 2003, joining Russia and the United States as the only countries to launch humans into orbit and generating huge amounts of national pride for the Communist government.

中国在03年完成第一次载人航天飞行，加入俄美成为有能力将人类送入轨道的三大国家之一，为共党政府激起了强烈的民族自豪感。

However, habitual secrecy and the space program’s close links with the military have inhibited cooperation with other nations’ space programs — including the International Space Station.

但由于中国习惯性的保密以及航天项目与军方的紧密联系，中国无法与其它国家展开航天合作，包括国际空间站。

At about 60 tons when completed, the Chinese station will be considerably smaller than the 16-nation ISS, which is expected to continue operating through 2028.

当重约60吨的中国空间站建成后，它将明显小于16国合建的国际空间站，国际站预计将持续服役至2028年。

China applied repeatedly to join the ISS, but was rebuffed largely on objections from the U.S., prompting it to adopt a go-it-alone strategy.

中国曾反复申请加盟国际空间站，但均遭拒绝，主要原因就是美国的反对，这促使中国决定独自踏上征程。

While the program has proceeded with no apparent major problems, the launch of the Tiangong-1 module was delayed for one year for technical reasons, and then rescheduled again after a Long March 2C rocket similar to the Long March 2F failed to reach orbit in August. The incident with the rocket was investigated and problems were reportedly resolved.

中国空间站计划的进程似乎没有重大问题，但天宫一号的发射曾因技术原因推迟一年；八月份，类似型号的长征火箭发射失败后，天宫的升空再次改期。中方已对失败火箭进行了调查，据报道问题也已解决。

Although experts see no explicit military function for the Chinese space station, the country’s other space-based military programs, including the destruction of a defunct Chinese satellite with a rocket in 2007, have caused alarm overseas.

虽然专家们尚未发现中国空间站具有明显的军事用途，但该国包括07年用导弹击落报废卫星在内的其它天基军事计划已在海外引起警觉。

“It is a nation doing its own thing saying, ‘OK, we can do what you did for our own country separate from cooperation, on Chinese terms,’” said Charles Vick, an expert on the Chinese space program with Globalsecurity.org, which tracks military and security news.

专门退踪军事与安全新闻的Globalsecurity.org网站的中国空间计划专家Charles Vick指出：＂这是一个国家在做自己的事情，中国认为没人合作我们也可以按自己的步调完成你们曾经做过的事。＂

Numerous challenges lie ahead, including the attempt to dock remotely — U.S. astronauts handled the maneuver from aboard their spacecraft. The Long March 5 rocket that is being prepared to launch the 20-ton modules for the actual space station also remains untested.

前方仍有许多挑战——美国是由宇航员在航天器上操纵对接，中国则采用远程遥控对接的方式。此外，负责将20吨级的真正空间站模块送入太空的长征五号火箭还未经检验。

Still, Beijing is expected to press ahead whatever the difficulties as long as it continues to result in international prestige, domestic credibility, technological advancement, and economic spin-offs, Johnson-Freese and Vick said.
“Basically, they will get what they want regardless of how long or what it takes for the authoritarian state to accomplish the assigned tasks,” Vick said.

Johnson-Freese and Vick称，无论遇到什么样的困难，只要能在国际上赢得声誉、在国内稳固正统、在技术上实现进步、在经济上得到实惠，北京都会奋力前进。＂说白了，无论完成既定任务需要花费多长时间或代价，这个专制国家都会心想事成。＂

原创翻译，原文链接http://www.washingtonpost.com/wo ... QARwT56K_story.html

China launches first experimental module for future space station
中国为未来空间站发射首枚试验性模块

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, September 29, 10:59 AM
美联社9月29日

BEIJING — China launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station on Thursday, underscoring its ambitions to become a major space power over the coming decade.

北京——中国在周四发射了一枚试验性模块，为未来的空间站打下基础，彰显了中国要在未来十余年内成为主要航天强国的雄心。

The box car-sized Tiangong-1 module was shot into space from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert aboard a Long March 2FT1 rocket.

类似火车货车厢大小的天宫一号由长征2FT1型火箭从位于戈壁滩边的酒泉发射中心送入太空。

It is to move into an orbit 217 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth and conduct surveys of Chinese farmland using special cameras, along with experiments involving growing crystals in zero gravity.

天宫一号在离地350公里的轨道上运行，将使用特殊相机巡视中国农田，并进行在失重状态下培养晶体的实验。

China then plans to launch an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to practice remote-controlled docking maneuvers with the module, possibly within the next few weeks. Two more missions, at least one of them manned, are to meet up with it next year for further practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month.

中国有可能在未来数周内发射神舟八号无人飞船，用以演练遥控对接天宫一号的技术。明年还有另外两次飞行（至少有一次载人），进一步练习与天宫的对接，航天员们最多可在太空舱内停留一个月。

The 8.5-ton module, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace-1,” is to stay aloft for two years, after which two other experimental modules are to be launched for additional tests before the actual station is launched in three sections between 2020 and 2022.

这一重达8.5吨的模块（原文解释中文意思为天庭）将在轨两年，此后，另外两座天宫将发射做进一步的实验。2020年至2022年，真正的空间站将分三段升空。

“This is a significant test. We’ve never done such a thing before,” Lu Jinrong, the launch center’s chief engineer, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

酒泉发射中心总工程师陆晋荣对官方新华社表示：＂这是一个重大考验，以前我们从未做过这样的事。＂

The space station, which is yet to be formally named, is the most ambitious project in China’s exploration of space, which also calls for landing on the moon, possibly with astronauts.

尚未命名的新空间站是中国空间探测计划中最为雄心勃勃的项目，该计划还要求实施登月——有可能是载人登月。

In terms of technology, the launch of the Tiangong-1 places China about where the U.S. was in the 1960s during the Gemini program. While it is planning fewer launches than the U.S. carried out, the Chinese program progresses farther than the U.S. did with each launch it undertakes, said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space expert at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. “China has the advantage, 40-plus years later, of not having to start at the bottom of the learning curve on its human spaceflight program,” Johnson-Freese said.

从技术角度来看，天宫一号的发射相当于美国在上世纪六十年代Gemini计划时期的水平。美国海战学院航天专家Joan Johnson-Freese指出，中国计划的发射次数要比美国少，他们每次发射对航天规划的推动要超过美国，中国拥有40余年的后发优势，他们的载人航天不必从在底层摸索的阶段起步。

China’s authoritarian, centralized political system also offers the advantage of freedom from political wrangles over funding and clearly defines the program’s long-term goals within Soviet-style five-year plans.

中国专制集中的政治体制有着下列优势：将航天计划从有关预算的党派纷争中隔离出来，并在苏式五年计划中为航天制定清晰的长期目标。

China launched its first manned flight in 2003, joining Russia and the United States as the only countries to launch humans into orbit and generating huge amounts of national pride for the Communist government.

中国在03年完成第一次载人航天飞行，加入俄美成为有能力将人类送入轨道的三大国家之一，为共党政府激起了强烈的民族自豪感。

However, habitual secrecy and the space program’s close links with the military have inhibited cooperation with other nations’ space programs — including the International Space Station.

但由于中国习惯性的保密以及航天项目与军方的紧密联系，中国无法与其它国家展开航天合作，包括国际空间站。

At about 60 tons when completed, the Chinese station will be considerably smaller than the 16-nation ISS, which is expected to continue operating through 2028.

当重约60吨的中国空间站建成后，它将明显小于16国合建的国际空间站，国际站预计将持续服役至2028年。

China applied repeatedly to join the ISS, but was rebuffed largely on objections from the U.S., prompting it to adopt a go-it-alone strategy.

中国曾反复申请加盟国际空间站，但均遭拒绝，主要原因就是美国的反对，这促使中国决定独自踏上征程。

While the program has proceeded with no apparent major problems, the launch of the Tiangong-1 module was delayed for one year for technical reasons, and then rescheduled again after a Long March 2C rocket similar to the Long March 2F failed to reach orbit in August. The incident with the rocket was investigated and problems were reportedly resolved.

中国空间站计划的进程似乎没有重大问题，但天宫一号的发射曾因技术原因推迟一年；八月份，类似型号的长征火箭发射失败后，天宫的升空再次改期。中方已对失败火箭进行了调查，据报道问题也已解决。

Although experts see no explicit military function for the Chinese space station, the country’s other space-based military programs, including the destruction of a defunct Chinese satellite with a rocket in 2007, have caused alarm overseas.

虽然专家们尚未发现中国空间站具有明显的军事用途，但该国包括07年用导弹击落报废卫星在内的其它天基军事计划已在海外引起警觉。

“It is a nation doing its own thing saying, ‘OK, we can do what you did for our own country separate from cooperation, on Chinese terms,’” said Charles Vick, an expert on the Chinese space program with Globalsecurity.org, which tracks military and security news.

专门退踪军事与安全新闻的Globalsecurity.org网站的中国空间计划专家Charles Vick指出：＂这是一个国家在做自己的事情，中国认为没人合作我们也可以按自己的步调完成你们曾经做过的事。＂

Numerous challenges lie ahead, including the attempt to dock remotely — U.S. astronauts handled the maneuver from aboard their spacecraft. The Long March 5 rocket that is being prepared to launch the 20-ton modules for the actual space station also remains untested.

前方仍有许多挑战——美国是由宇航员在航天器上操纵对接，中国则采用远程遥控对接的方式。此外，负责将20吨级的真正空间站模块送入太空的长征五号火箭还未经检验。

Still, Beijing is expected to press ahead whatever the difficulties as long as it continues to result in international prestige, domestic credibility, technological advancement, and economic spin-offs, Johnson-Freese and Vick said.
“Basically, they will get what they want regardless of how long or what it takes for the authoritarian state to accomplish the assigned tasks,” Vick said.

Johnson-Freese and Vick称，无论遇到什么样的困难，只要能在国际上赢得声誉、在国内稳固正统、在技术上实现进步、在经济上得到实惠，北京都会奋力前进。＂说白了，无论完成既定任务需要花费多长时间或代价，这个专制国家都会心想事成。＂