China on Monday successfully launched a relay satellite for the Chang’e-4 lunar mission, which is scheduled for later this year.

　　周一，中国成功地发射了嫦娥四号月球任务的中继卫星，该卫星定于今年晚些时候发射。

　　The satellite, named Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), was carried by a Long March-4C rocket that blasted off at 5:28 a.m. from southwest China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

　　这颗名为鹊桥(喜鹊桥)的卫星由一枚长征-4C火箭搭载，于凌晨5点28分从中国西南西昌卫星发射中心发射升空。

　　It separated from the rocket 25 minutes after liftoff and was sent to an Earth-Moon transfer orbit with a perigee of 200km and an apogee of 400,000km. Its solar panels and relay communication antenna unfolded successfully.

　　它在发射后25分钟与火箭分离，并被送入近地点200公里和远地点400000公里的地球-月球转移轨道。它的太阳能电池板和中继通信天线成功地展开。

　　This is also the world’s first communication satellite which is expected to operate in the orbit of the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2. It will be able to observe both the Earth and the far side of the Moon.

　　这也是世界上第一颗预计将在地球-月球拉格朗日点L2轨道上运行的通信卫星。它将能够同时观察地球和月球的远端。

　　When the night falls, the Moon rises. The Moon is the Earth’s natural satellite and has always been a special and mysterious phenomenon for people living on Earth.

　　夜幕降临，月亮升起。月球是地球上的天然卫星，对于生活在地球上的人们来说，月球围绕地球转一直是一种特殊而神秘的现象。

　　Due to its gravitational forces and rotational period, one side of the Moon rotates around the earth, and humans have been watching and worshiping this side for thousands of years. Over the past few decades, many countries including the US and Russia have sent spacecraft and astronauts, but the lunar far side is never visible to the Earth and has never been explored by humans.

　　由于它的引力和自转周期，月球的一侧绕着地球旋转，而人类几千年来一直在观察和崇拜这一面。在过去的几十年里，包括美国和俄罗斯在内的许多国家都派出了宇宙飞船和宇航员，但地球从未见过月球的阴面，也从未有人探索过月球。

　　Queqiao can be literally translated into Magpie Bridge. In a Chinese folktale, magpies formed a bridge by spreading their wings on the seventh night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar to enable Zhi Nu, the seventh daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, to cross and meet her beloved husband, who was separated from her by the Milky Way.

　　鹊桥可以字面翻译成喜鹊桥。在中国民间传说中，喜鹊在农历七月的第七天晚上展开翅膀，形成了一座桥梁，让天堂女神的第七个女儿智如能够与她相隔银河的挚爱丈夫相见。

　　So it is a symbolic bridge. The Chang’e-4 lunar probe, which is scheduled to be launched later this year, will undertake the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. However, direct communication with the far side of the Moon is not possible and is one of the many challenges of the Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission. That is why the relay satellite is needed, and it will be responsible for transmitting signals between the Earth station and the Chang’e-4 lander and rover.

　　所以这是一座象征性的桥梁。嫦娥四号月球探测器定于今年晚些时候发射，将首次在月球远端进行软着陆。然而，与月球远端直接沟通是不可能的，这也是嫦娥4号月球探测任务面临的诸多挑战之一。这就是为什么需要中继卫星，它将负责在地面站和嫦娥4号着陆器和漫游者之间传输信号。

　　After days of adjustment, Queqiao will then make its way to the Earth-Moon Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable spot located about 65,000 kilometers beyond the lunar far side. From that perch, the satellite will relay signals and data between Earth and China’s pioneering Chang’e-4 lander-rover duo.

　　经过几天的调整后，奎桥将到达地球-月球拉格朗日2号点，这是一个重力稳定的地点，位于月球远处约65，000公里处。在这个平台上，这颗卫星将在地球和中国首创的嫦娥4号着陆器双星之间传递信号和数据。

　　Queqiao will also carry an astronomy experiment called the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer, which will search for radio signals from the universe’s very early days and characterize the solar winds near the Moon, among other tasks.

　　鹊乔还将进行一项名为“荷兰-中国低频探索者”的天文学实验，该实验将搜索来自宇宙早期的无线电信号，并对月球附近的太阳风进行表征，以及其他任务。

　　Together with the relay satellite, two microsatellites developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology, "Longjiang-1" and "Longjiang-2", have also been sent into orbit. The Chang’e-4 probe will also carry scientific payloads for four countries, including the Netherlands and Germany.

　　与中继卫星一起，哈尔滨理工大学研制的两颗微型卫星“龙江-1”和“龙江-2”也被送入轨道。嫦娥四号探测器还将为包括荷兰和德国在内的四个国家运载科学载荷。

　　It has a clean electromagnetic environment, which provides an ideal location to study low frequency radio waves. Many countries have come up with their own plans to explore the far side of the Moon because of its scientific importance.

　　它具有良好的电磁环境，为低频无线电波的研究提供了理想的场所。由于月球的科学重要性，许多国家已经提出了自己的探索月球远端的计划。

　　The Chang’e-4 rover and lander were originally built as backups for the Chang’e-3 mission, which landed two spacecraft on the Moon in 2013. Another 2019 mission, Chang’e-5, aims to bring back the first rocks from the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

　　嫦娥4号探测器和着陆器最初是作为嫦娥3号任务的后盾建造的，2013年，嫦娥3号在月球上着陆了两艘宇宙飞船。另一项2019年的任务，嫦娥5号，旨在从1972年的阿波罗17号之后，从月球上回收第一批岩石。

　　This is the Long March Rocket’s 275th launch, but also the Long March-4C rocket’s maiden launch at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

　　这是长征火箭的第275次发射，也是长征-4C火箭在西昌卫星发射中心的首次发射。