2019年1月3日，嫦娥四号探测器成功着陆月球背面，并通过“鹊桥”中继星传回了世界第一张近距离拍摄的月背影像图，实现了人类探测器首次月背软着陆、首次月背与地球的中继通信，开启了人类月球探测新篇章。
下面，我们一起来盘点下外媒对我国探月之路的报道。
◉纽约时报（The New York Times）:
China reached a milestone in space exploration on Thursday, landing a vehicle on the far side of the moon for the first time in history, the country's space agency announced.
The landing of the probe, called Chang'e-4 after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, is one in a coming series of missions that underscore the country's ambitions to join — and even lead — the space race.
probe
作名词有“探索；探查；查究；调查”的意思，英文解释为“an attempt to discover information by asking a lot of questions”，如：an FBI probe into corruption 联邦调查局对腐败的调查；也可以指“（医生或科学家用的）探针”，英文解释为“a long thin metal instrument that doctors and scientists use to examine parts of the body”。
此处的probe解释为“探测器”，英文解释为：a device that is put inside something to test or record information. 如：a space probe 航天探测器/太空探测器。
underscore
两个含义，1）等同于underline，表示“在（单词或短语）底下画线（以示强调）”，英文解释为“to draw a line under a word or phrase to show that it is important”；2）表示“突出，强调”，英文解释为“to emphasize the fact that something is important or true”，举个🌰：
The Labour Department figures underscore the shaky state of the economic recovery.
劳工部的数字突出显示了经济复苏的不稳定。
◉BBC:
China says it has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, the first ever such attempt and landing. At 10:26 Beijing time (02:26 GMT), the unmanned Chang'e-4 probe touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, state media said.
It is carrying instruments to characterise the region's geology, as well as a biological experiment. State media called the landing "a major milestone in space exploration".
While past missions have been to the Earth-facing side, this is the first time a craft has landed on the unexplored far side. The probe has sent some first pictures from the surface. With no direct communications link possible, all pictures and data are first sent to a separate satellite and then relayed from there to earth.
touch down
表示“着陆”，英文解释为“When an aircraft touches down, it lands.”，举个🌰：
The space shuttle touched down yesterday.
这架航天飞机昨日着陆。
relay
relay作名词时表示“接力赛”大家比较熟悉，此处作动词，表示“中继转发，转播（广播或电视信号）”，英文解释为“If radio or television signals are relayed, they are received and sent, especially so that they can be heard on the radio or seen on television.”举个🌰：
The broadcasts were relayed by satellite.
这些电视节目通过卫星进行转播。
◉CNN:
In an historic first, China has successfully landed a rover on the far side of the moon, Chinese state media announced Thursday, a huge milestone for the nation as it attempts to position itself as a leading space power.
China's National Space Administration (CNSA) landed the craft, officially named Chang'e 4, at 10:26 am Beijing time on Thursday, in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the moon's largest and oldest impact crater, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
It made its final descent from an elliptical orbit 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) above the moon's surface, making a "smooth" and "precise" landing, according to the general designer of Chang'e 4, Sun Zezhou, who added the probe pulled off a "bulls-eye."
嫦娥四号探测器自主着陆在月球背面南极-艾特肯盆地内的冯·卡门撞击坑内，实现人类探测器首次在月球背面软着陆。嫦娥四号探测器总设计师孙泽洲：“正中靶心”。
State media reported the rover transmitted back the world's first close range image of the far side of the moon. Six hours after touchdown, the rover will descend from the lander onto the moon's surface, mission spokesman Yu Guobin told CCTV.
背景
南极-艾特肯盆地（South Pole–Aitken basin）是月球背面一座巨大的撞击陨石坑，直径大约2500公里，深13公里，是公认的月球上最大、最深和最古老的盆地。(the largest, oldest, deepest, crater)
impact crater
表示“陨石坑；撞击坑”，其中，crater表示“(撞击或爆炸形成的)大坑”，英文解释为“A crater is a very large hole in the ground, which has been caused by something hitting it or by an explosion.”如：craters on the moon’s surface 月球表面的坑。
descent
此处表示“下降，下落；下沉”，英文解释为“a movement down”，举个🌰：
The plane began (to make) its final descent into the airport.
飞机开始（做）最终下降，准备在机场着陆。
descent作名词还有“血缘关系，家族关系；祖先；出身，血统”的意思，英文解释为“the state or fact of being related to a particular person or group of people who lived in the past”，如：of Asian descent 亚裔，举个🌰：
She's a woman of mixed/French descent. 她是一个混血/法裔女人。
还可以表示“不期而至，突然到达”，英文解释为“an occasion when a group of people arrive somewhere, usually suddenly or unexpectedly”，举个🌰：
We weren't prepared for the descent of thousands of journalists on the town.
我们没想到数千名记者会突然来到镇上。
elliptical
/ɪ'lɪptɪkəl,ɪˋlɪptɪkḷ/ 表示“椭圆的；椭圆形的”，英文解释为“having the shape of an ellipse”；还有“（言辞或文章）晦涩的，隐晦的”的意思（elliptical speech or writing is difficult to understand because more is meant than is actually said），举个🌰：
The language is often elliptical and ambiguous.
语言经常是隐晦和模棱两可的。
bulls-eye
表示“靶心；命中靶心的一射（或一投）”，英文解释为“the circular centre of the object aimed at in games such as darts, or the shot or throw that hits this”，举个🌰：
I was amazed when I got a bullseye.
当我命中靶心时，我很惊讶。
补充：
「来源」also bullseye, 1833 as "center of a target," from bull (n.1) + eye (n.). So called for size and color. Meaning "shot that hits the mark" is from 1857. Bulls-eye also was used from 1680s of various sorts of circular holes or objects with them.
补充：
hit the bullseye
rover
rover常见意思是“ 流浪者；漫游者”（a person who roves; wanderer），此处rover的英文解释为“a vehicle for exploring the surface of an extraterrestrial body (as the moon or Mars)”，即指月球探测器，此前在「嗯，用不了多久...」一文中就提到美国的火星探测车（亦称为机遇号/机会号/火星探测漫游者-B，MER-B）因火星尘暴与地球“失联”3个多月时就这么表达：An American rover called Opportunity stopped working six months ago in a dust storm, but may revive if wind blows the dust off its solar panels.
BTW, 我们常听说的汽车品牌“路虎”的英文就是“Land Rover”。
Land Rover is a luxury car brand that specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which has been owned by India's Tata Motors since 2008.（Wikipedia）
路虎是英国的全地形车和运动型多用途车品牌，隶属于捷豹路虎，总部位于英国考文垂怀特利（Whitley）。
◉The Guardian:
A Chinese spacecraft has become the first ever to land on the far side of the moon, according to state-run media, in a giant leap for human space exploration.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) landed the robotic probe Chang'e 4 in the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest, oldest, deepest, crater on the moon's surface.
Official confirmation of the landing came two hours later via state broadcaster CCTV, which said the lunar explorer had touched down at 10.26am (2.26am GMT). The Communist party-owned Global Times also said the probe had “successfully made the first-ever soft landing” on the far side of the moon.
An image tweeted by the English-language version of CCTV showed the first close-up shot of the far lunar surface.
CNSA
中国国家航天局是中华人民共和国负责民用航天管理及国际空间合作的政府机构，履行政府相应的管理职责。
China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the governmental organization of People's Republic of China responsible for the management of space activities for civilian use and international space cooperation with other countries, and performs the corresponding governmental functions.
小作业：文中多次提到的着陆在月球背面的月球背面都是怎么表达的，还记得么？别偷看哦。
- END -
网友评论