VOA慢速英语:中国天问一号火星探测器发射成功

An unmanned Chinese spacecraft left Earth Thursday on a yearlong trip to the planet Mars. The launch marks the beginning of one of China's most important space missions yet.
中国一艘无人宇宙飞船周四离开地球开始为期一年的火星之旅。这次发射标志着中国迄今为止最重要的太空任务之一的开端。
China's national space agency launched the spacecraft, called Tianwen-1, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch area on Hainan Island. Hundreds of people were watching and cheered as it rose into the sky.
中国国家航天局从海南文昌航天发射场发射了这艘名为天问一号的宇宙飞船。火箭升空时，有数百人围观并欢呼庆祝。

The name Tianwen means "Heavenly Questions" or "Questions to Heaven" in Mandarin Chinese. The spacecraft is expected to reach the Red Planet by February of next year.
天问这个名称的中文意思是天空之问。这艘宇宙飞船有望于明年2月到达火星。

Once it begins orbiting the planet, a probe will leave the spacecraft and attempt to land on the Utopia Planitia area of Mars. Space agency officials say the probe will release a small solar-powered rover. They said the vehicle will explore the planet's surface for about three months.
一旦这它开始环绕火星飞行，一个探测器将会脱离飞船，并尝试在火星的乌托邦平原区域着陆。航天局官员表示，该探测器将会释放出一辆小型太阳能火星漫游车。他们称该车辆将会在火星表面进行为期约3个月的探索。

A successful landing would make China only the second nation to place a spacecraft on the Martian planet. The United States has landed eight probes on Mars since 1976.
成功着陆将使得中国成为第二个在火星部署航天器的国家。自1976年以来，美国已经对火星进行了8次探测。

China would also be the first to successfully orbit, land and deploy a vehicle in the same mission.
中国也将成为首个在一次发射任务中完成环绕、着陆和部署火星车的国家。

This is China's first independent mission to Mars. A 2011 mission failed when a Russian rocket carrying a Chinese orbiter had problems after launch, and was unable to escape Earth's orbit.
这是中国首次独立探索火星。2011年携带中国轨道器的俄罗斯火箭在发射后出现故障无法脱离地球轨道，导致任务失败。

Last year, China's Chang'e-4 spacecraft became the first to make a landing on the far side of the moon.
去年，中国的嫦娥4号飞船首次在月球的另一面着陆。

The Tianwen-1 is the third mission to Mars this year. On Monday, Japanese engineers launched a rocket. It is carrying an orbiter developed and built by the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. space agency NASA is set to launch a new Martian vehicle, named Perseverance, on July 30.
天问一号是今年第三次火星任务。周一，日本工程师发射了一枚火箭。它携带了阿联酋开发和制造的轨道器。美国航天局将于7月30日发射一架名为恒心号的新型火箭飞行器。

Another solar system
另一个太阳系

In a separate development, scientists have released, what they say, is the first image ever captured by a telescope of more than one planet orbiting a sun-like star. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) said Wednesday that the image came from its Extremely Large Telescope, in Chile's Atacama Desert.
另一方面，科学家们发布了一张图片，他们称这是太空望远镜拍到的首张多个行星围绕类太阳状恒星运行的图片。欧洲南部天文台周三表示，这张图片是它们位于智利阿塔卡马沙漠的超大型望远镜所拍摄。

The researchers said the star is part of the constellation Musca, or Fly. They believe it is just about 17 million years old. That is young when compared to Earth's sun, which is believed to be 4.5 billion years old.
研究人员表示，这颗恒星是苍蝇星座的一部分。他们认为它只有大约1700万年的历史。与被认为具有45亿年历史的太阳相比，它还很年轻。

The newly discovered solar system is about 300 light-years away from Earth.
这个新发现的太阳系距离地球大约有300光年。

A report on the discovery was published Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Lead researcher Alexander Bohn of Leiden University described the star as very young and much like our own sun. He added that taking direct images provides the best chance to find life outside our solar system, if it exists.
关于这项发现的报告于周二发表在《天体物理学期刊通讯》上。莱顿大学的首席研究员亚历山大·博恩称这颗恒星非常年轻，非常像我们所拥有的太阳。他还说，直接拍摄影像是寻找存在于我们太阳系以外生命的最佳机会。