美国宇航局终于发现了印度丢失的登月器残骸

美国宇航局终于发现了印度丢失的登月器残骸

NASA announced Monday that it had finally found the crash site of India's lost lunar lander, Vikram. Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera show the lander's crash site about 600 km (372 miles) from the Moon's south pole, shown below, including an impact point and field of debris surrounding it.

美国宇航局星期一宣布，终于找到了印度失踪的月球着陆器维克拉姆的坠毁地点。月球勘测轨道飞行器照相机拍摄的图像显示，着陆器的坠毁地点距离月球南极约600公里(372英里)，如下图所示，包括撞击点和周围的碎片。

Vikram was part of India's Chandrayaan-2 mission to send an orbiter, lander, and rover to the Moon's surface. Those ambitions were cut short when the Indian Space Research Organization lost touch with the lander as it was approaching the lunar surface on September 7 after being released by the orbiter.

维克拉姆是印度“月船2号”任务的一部分，该任务是向月球表面发射轨道飞行器、着陆器和漫游者。印度空间研究组织在9月7日登月器被释放后，在接近月球表面时失去了与登月器的联系，这让他们的雄心壮志戛然而止。

Two and a half months after the agency lost contact, the ISRO finally admitted the lander crashed - a week before NASA discovered the lander's crash site.

在失去联系两个半月后，ISRO终于承认了着陆器的坠毁——在NASA发现着陆器坠毁地点的前一周。

The lander, with an orbiter and a rover called Pragyaan in tow, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on July 15. The orbiter is currently in full operation.

7月15日，这艘载有轨道飞行器和名为“布拉格扬”的探测器的着陆器，从位于安得拉邦的萨提什达旺航天中心发射升空。轨道飞行器目前正在全面运行。

The lander was set to make India only the fourth country after the US, the USSR, and China to softly land a manmade object on the Moon.

该着陆器将使印度成为继美国、苏联和中国之后，第四个将人造物体软着陆月球的国家。

"Despite the loss, getting that close to the surface was an amazing achievement," reads NASA's statement.

美国宇航局在声明中说:“尽管损失惨重，但能如此接近月球表面仍是一项了不起的成就。”