在月球背面挖土city不city啊？

07 Jul, 2024

2024-06-27 13:47

在人类肉眼看不到的月球背面（far side of the moon），最近，迎来了一位特殊的客人——嫦娥六号。

• 月球背面 far side of the moon

奔向月背的“嫦娥”

嫦娥六号（Chang'e 6 lunar probe）去月背执行任务，就好比我们隔着一座大山操控小车作业。

• 嫦娥六号 Chang'e 6 lunar probe

Getting the probe work on the far side of moon, is like sending the trolley WOB-E to the other side of a mountain. The mountain might block the signal transmission between us and the trolley.

• probe n. (also ˈspace probe) a spacecraft without people on board which obtains information and sends it back to earth （不载人）航天探测器，宇宙探测航天器
• trolley n. 本义为“小推车，小台车”，这里是“月球探测器”小车
• block v. ~ sth to prevent sth from happening, developing or making progress 妨碍；阻碍
• transmission n. [U] the act or process of sending out an electronic signal or message or of broadcasting a radio or television programme （电子信号或信息的）发射，发送；（电台或电视节目的）播送
• 在月球背面进行探测，就像把一辆 WOB-E 小车送到山的另一边。那座山可能会阻碍我们与电车之间的信号传输。

In fact, when Chang'e 6 worked on the far side of the moon, it also temporarily lost signal with Earth.

• loose signal with sth. （太空）失去联络
• 实际上，在嫦娥六号执行月背任务的时候，它也会面临短暂与地球失去联络的状况。

The signal was back, and our trolley flew back to us with the sample! Our experiment of replicating the far side of the moon sampling mission is successful.

• replicate v. [T] ~ sth (formal) to copy sth exactly 复制；（精确地）仿制，模拟
• 信号再次联通，小车也顺利地采集到了样品，这说明我们模拟“月背采样”的实验是成功的。

搭“鹊桥”，去远方

现实中，让我们与嫦娥六号保持联系的“移动Wi-Fi”是鹊桥二号中继星（Queqiao 2 relay satellite）。它有一大一小两个天线，一个指向月球，另一个指向地球。它们帮助鹊桥二号完成数据的双向传输，解决通讯的问题。

• 鹊桥二号中继星 Queqiao 2 relay satellite

However, unlike our drones, it doesn't hover but orbits the moon. This means Chang'e 6 can't have 24/7 signal coverage. Chang'e 6 can only operate when it's connected to the relay satellite. Thus, it must work efficiently to collect the desired amount of lunar soil from the far side of the moon.

• hover v. remain in one place in the air 盘旋; 悬停
• 24/7 固定表达，意思是一天24小时，一周7天，全天候提供服务的意思。也写作7*24。 当作为固定用法时，24/7的读法是 twenty-four，seven。
• 中继星 relay satellite
• 鹊桥二号并不会像我们实验当中的无人机一样悬停在一个固定位置，而是要绕月球做圆周运动。因此，它的信号不会24小时覆盖嫦娥六号。嫦娥六号只有在与鹊桥二号中继星的信号相连时才能工作，也就是说，它必须提高效率，才能在月背采集理想中的月壤。

嫦娥六号此次降落的点在月球背面的南极——艾特肯盆地东北侧。

This site is the closest to the moon's mantle. So here, Chang'e 6 can collect the oldest soil on the moon.

• mantle n. [sing.] (geology 地) the part of the earth below the crust and surrounding the core 地幔
• 这里是最接近月幔的位置，嫦娥六号在这里挖到的月壤，是月球上最古老的土。

在月背挖土的秘诀

Before sending the actual commands to Chang'e 6, the simulator performs the validation work. Essentially, each step taken on the ground is mirrored in space.

• simulator n. 模拟机
• validate v. ~ sth to prove that sth is true 证实；确认；确证，验证
• mirror v. ~ sth to have features that are similar to sth else and which show what it is like
• 在给嫦娥六号发送真正的任务指令之前，模拟机将在这个模拟的“月球表面”完成最终的验证工作，实现“地上做一步，天上跟着做一步”。

嫦娥六号在挖土时会采用“表取”跟“钻取”两种采样方式。“表取”是在月球表面搜集月壤并抓取石块，“钻取”则是通过嫦娥六号的特殊钻头深入到月表以下的位置，抓取深层次的月壤。

This way, we get samples from different depths and locations, revealing more about the moon, the solar system, and the universe's history.

• reveal v. to make sth known to sb 揭示；显示；透露
• 通过这两种方式，我们可以得到不同方位、不同深度的样品，它们会告诉我们月球、太阳系乃至整个宇宙的历史故事。