VOA科学技术2023 科学家志在月球远端登陆新型望远镜（在线收听）

American scientists are working to develop a telescope to deploy on the moon.

美国科学家正致于开发一款望远镜部署到月球上。

The telescope is designed to search for ancient radio waves that could provide important details about the early universe.

这种望远镜旨在寻找可以提供早期宇宙重要细节的远古无线电波。

The American space agency NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy are working together on the project.

美国宇航局和美国能源部正在该项目上通力合作。

The telescope will be the first designed to collect data on a historical period of the universe called the Dark Ages. This period is considered important to study because it can provide new details about the formation and development of the universe.

该望远镜将是首个设计用于收集宇宙黑暗时期数据的产品。该时期被认为很重要，因为它可以提供有关宇宙形成和发展的新细节。

The Dark Ages period began nearly 380,000 years after the Big Bang, the explosion many scientists believe created the universe. During the Dark Ages, there were no stars or planets.

宇宙黑暗时代始于大爆炸之后的近38万年，许多科学家认为大爆炸创造了宇宙。在黑暗时代不存在恒星或行星。

In a statement announcing the project, NASA said information on the Dark Ages can only be learned through data collected from radio waves. The new telescope is specially designed to provide details on the formation of the early universe.

美国宇航局在宣布该项目的声明中表示，只能通过从无线电波收集到的数据来了解宇宙黑暗时代的信息。这种新型望远镜专门设计用于提供有关早期宇宙形成的详细信息。

The telescope is to be placed on what is known as the far side of the moon. This description came about because that side of the moon cannot be seen from Earth. The area does experience its own day and night cycle.

该望远镜将被安放在所谓的月球远端。这种描述起因是月球的这一面无法从地球上看到。该地区确实经历了自己的昼夜周期。

The far side of the moon enjoys radio silence compared to Earth, which experiences so much radio wave traffic it is considered noise "pollution." It offers an unusual environment that permits researchers to record sensitive radio signals. Team members say such signals cannot be captured anywhere else in near-Earth space.

与地球上相比，月球远端具有无线电静默，这种无线电在地球上是如此之多，它被认为是噪音污染。月球远端提供了一个不同寻常的环境，使得研究人员可以记录敏感的无线电信号。团队成员表示，这些信息在近地空间的其它任何地方都无法捕获到。

Anze Slosar is a physicist with the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. He said in a statement that studying the universe is easier when collecting data from a time before the stars and planets formed.

安兹·斯劳瑟是美国能源部纽约布鲁克黑文国家实验室的物理学家。他在一份声明中表示，当收集到恒星和行星形成时间之前的数据时，研究宇宙就会更加容易。

"So far, we can only make predictions about earlier stages of the universe using a benchmark called the cosmic microwave background," Slosar said. He noted that the new telescope would provide a new benchmark, opening the door for scientists to make further important discoveries about the universe.

斯劳瑟表示：“到目前为止，我们只能使用所谓宇宙微波背景的基准对宇宙的早期阶段进行观测。”他指出，这种新型望远镜将提供新的基准，为科学家对宇宙做出进一步发现打开大门。

After touching down on the moon, the telescope's lander will turn off permanently so it does not produce any wave interference. The telescope will then deploy four three-meter-long antennas. The instrument must survive the severe conditions existing on the moon's far side.

在接触到月球表面之后，该望远镜的着陆器将永久关闭，以免产生任何波纹干扰。然后该望远镜将部署4根三米长的天线。该仪器必须能够在月球远端的严酷环境中生存。

Scientists on Earth will have to wait 40 days for the telescope to collect and send its first data to a satellite that can communicate with Earth.

地球上的科学家将不得不等待40天，以便望远镜收集其第一批数据，然后发射给可以与地球通信的卫星。

Researchers leading the project say multiple big discoveries could be made in the future with the lunar telescope.

领导该项目的研究人员表示，将来通过月球望远镜可能会有多个重大发现。

"Radio emission from the galaxy is very bright and our Dark Ages signal is hiding behind it," said physicist Stuart D. Bale of the University of California, Berkeley.

加州大学伯克利分校的物理学家图尔特·贝尔表示，“来自银河系的无线电辐射会非常明亮，宇宙黑暗时期的信号就隐藏在它背后。”

Paul O'Connor is a scientist with Brookhaven's Instrumentation Division who is helping lead the project. "The moon is easier to reach than Mars, but everything else is more challenging," he said about the operating environment on the moon.

保罗·奥康纳是布鲁克黑文仪器部门的科学家，他正在帮助领导该项目。 他谈到月球上的操作环境时说：“月亮比火星更容易到达，但其他一切都更具挑战性。”

O'Connor added that removing heat and avoiding radiation are some of the main challenges faced when exploring from the moon. "There's a reason only one robotic rover has landed on the Moon in the last 50 years, while six went to Mars, which is 100 times farther away," O'Connor said.

奥康纳还说，当从月球探索宇宙时，消除热量并避免辐射是一些主要的挑战。奥康纳表示：“在过去50年里只有一架机器人漫游车登上月球，而有6架登上距离远100倍的火星，这是有原因的。”