Two ships that have been docked in the Yangtze River near Nanjing for virtually the last 6 months are now back at sea, putting China’s ambitious plans for a space station back on track.
过去几乎6个月一直停靠在南京附近的长江的两艘船现已返回海上，使中国雄心勃勃的空间站计划回到了正轨。
The cargo ships that are critical to China maintaining her ambitious schedule for the readiness of its space station have been lying idle in the Yangtze River instead of transporting rocket components to their launch site. Having hardly moved since April, the delays are pushing back China’s hopes for not just the space station, but also plans for landing on the moon and Mars.
这对中国保持其雄心勃勃的空间站准备时间表至关重要的货船一直闲置在长江，而不是将火箭部件运送到发射场。 自4月以來幾乎沒有移動，延誤不僅推動了中國對空間站的希望，也推動了中國在月球和火星上著陸的計劃。
The Nanjinger monitored the 9,000 ton Yuan Wang 21 and her sister ship, Yuan Wang 22, moored in the Yangtze River virtually under the Jiangyin bridge in Changzhou, approximately 150 kilometres downstream from Nanjing, from April until September.
从4月到9月，南京人监视着9000噸的元王21号及其姐妹船元王22号，该船几乎停泊在常州江阴桥下，距离南京下游约150公里。
More recently, that all changed. Both vessels are now sailing south in the East China Sea, having picked up their cargo in Tianjin, on their way to the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on the southern island of Hainan.
最近，这一切都变了。 两艘船目前正在东海南航，在天津提货，前往海南岛南部的文昌卫星发射中心。
It was at a press conference in Beijing on 29 January of this year that Yang Baohua, vice president of China’s main space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), announced that the Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket was being prepared for a third flight this July.
在今年1月29日在北京举行的新闻发布会上，中国主要空间承包商中国航天科学技术总公司（CASC）副总裁杨宝华宣布，长征5号重型火箭正在准备于今年7月进行第三次飞行。
That the month came and went with both ships still in the Yangtze was something of a double blow after the the failure of the Long March 5’s second launch in 2017.
在2017年长征五号第二次发射失败后，这个月来了又走了，两艘船仍然在长江上，这有点是双重打击。
News of the two ships approaching the half way point on their voyage from Tianjin to Hainan will be another in a series of reliefs at the prospect of getting the space program up and running again. This third flight was initially to have been followed by one that would send the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission into a trans-lunar injection at the end of this year. Its success would pave the way for an exciting fifth launch that would be China’s first independent mission to Mars. The timing for such is critical; Earth and Mars only line up favourably once every 26 months. The next comes between late July and early August, 2020.
两艘飞船从天津到海南的航行接近中途的消息，将是对太空计划再次启动和运行的一系列缓解。 这第三次飞行最初是继今年年底将把嫦娥五号月球样本返回任务送入跨月注入。 它的成功将为激动人心的第五次发射铺平道路，这将是中国首次独立火星任务。 这样的时机至关重要；地球和火星每26个月才会有利地排列一次。 下一个是在2020年7月底到8月初之间。
In addition, for China’s modular space station to become a reality, test launches of the delivery rocket are required. As the rocket is a variant of the Long March 5, success for this third mission is essential.
此外，要使中国的模块化空间站成为现实，需要测试发射运载火箭。 由于火箭是长征5号的变体，因此第三次任务的成功至关重要。
While the space station shall be built by the Chinese alone, there remain plenty opportunity for international cooperation within. Back in June in Vienna, concurrently with the 62nd session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, nine international experiments won a place on the Chinese station, according to the weekly journal of science, Nature Research.
虽然空间站将由中国人独自建造，但内部仍有很多国际合作的机会。 据《科学周刊《自然研究》》报道，早在6月在维也纳举行的和平利用外层空间委员会第62届会议的同时，九项国际实验在中国站获得了一席之地。
There were a total of 42 applicants to the initiative created by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the China Manned Space Agency.
共有42人申请了由联合国外层空间事务厅和中国载人航天局发起的倡议。
As such, a multitude of countries shall be represented in orbit around the Earth with the Chinese, namely Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Norway, Mexico, Poland, Peru, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Switzerland.
因此，许多国家将与中国人一起在地球轨道上代表，即比利时、法国、德国、印度、意大利、日本、肯尼亚、荷兰、挪威、墨西哥、波兰、秘鲁、俄罗斯联邦、沙特阿拉伯、西班牙和瑞士。
Wang Qun, China’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, said at the time, “The cooperation takes into account the special needs of developing countries, which were encouraged to submit joint project applications with developed countries”.
中国驻维也纳联合国大使王群当时表示：“合作考虑到了发展中国家的特殊需求，鼓励发展中国家与发达国家提交联合项目申请。”
The winning experiments cover the fields of astronomy, biotechnology, microgravity combustion, microgravity fluid physics, space life science, space medicine and other space technologies.
获奖的实验涵盖了天文学、生物技术、微重力燃烧、微重力流体物理学、太空生命科学、太空医学和其他太空技术等领域。