太空望远镜已经完全组装好了，看起来非常壮观

Development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been beleaguered by delays since the project started all the way back in 1996. But a major milestone has brought the finale closer: the glorious machine has now been fully assembled for the first time.

自从1996年詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜(JWST)项目开始以来，它的开发就一直受到拖延的困扰。但是一个重要的里程碑使结局更接近了：这台荣耀的机器现在已经完全组装好了。

The space observatory is being built at the facility of aerospace technology company Northrop Grumman in California, and they've just successfully connected both halves of the JWST - the telescope and mirrors constituting one, and the sunshield and spacecraft the other.

空间观测台正在加利福尼亚州的诺斯罗普格鲁曼航空航天技术公司的设施中建造，他们刚刚成功地将JWST的两半连接起来——一个是望远镜和镜子，另一个是遮阳板和航天器。

"The assembly of the telescope and its scientific instruments, sunshield and the spacecraft into one observatory represents an incredible achievement by the entire Webb team," said Webb project manager Bill Ochs of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

美国国家航空航天局戈达德航天飞行中心的韦伯项目经理比尔·奥克斯说：“将望远镜及其科学仪器、遮阳板和宇宙飞船组装到一个天文台，代表了整个韦伯团队的一项不可思议的成就。”

"This milestone symbolises the efforts of thousands of dedicated individuals for over more than 20 years across NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, Northrop Grumman, and the rest of our industrial and academic partners."

“这一里程碑象征着美国宇航局、欧洲航天局、加拿大航天局、诺斯罗普格鲁曼公司、以及我们的其他工业和学术合作伙伴在20多年的努力。”

The JWST is the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and its launch has been delayed several times, due to budgetary reasons and technical challenges.

JWST是期待已久的哈勃太空望远镜的继任者，由于预算原因和技术挑战，它的发射已经推迟了好几次。

Hubble, which launched in 1990, is running out of time. Its last service mission was in 2009; since then, its parts have been failing - Hubble has already lost three of its six gyroscopes. However, the observatory could last another decade or two, if we're really lucky.

哈勃望远镜于1990年发射升空，现在已经没有时间了。其最后一次服役任务是在2009年;从那以后，它的部件一直在失灵——哈勃已经失去了它的六个陀螺仪中的三个。然而，如果我们真的幸运的话，这个天文台可能还会持续10到20年。

The JWST is now slated for a March 2021 launch, and it seems to be pretty on schedule. And there is definitely room in the skies for both telescopes. Webb's mirror is 6.5 metres (21 feet) in diameter compared to Hubble's 2.4-metre (7.9 foot) mirror.

JWST目前预定于2021年3月发布，看起来非常准时。而且在天空中肯定有空间放置两个望远镜。韦伯的镜子直径为6.5米(21英尺)，而哈勃的镜子直径为2.4米(7.9英尺)。

In addition, the Webb telescope will be observing the skies in slightly different and longer wavelengths, from the visible to the mid-infrared. Hubble's capabilities range from ultraviolet to near-infrared - so Webb will be able to peer across longer distances to see objects at high redshifts, such as early-Universe galaxies, that are invisible to Hubble.

此外，韦伯望远镜将以略微不同和较长的波长观测天空，从可见光到中红外。哈勃的能力范围从紫外到近红外，因此韦伯能够在较长的距离内观察高红移的物体，搜索哈勃看不见的早期宇宙星系。

Webb will also need to be kept at a very cold operating temperature in order to observe mid-infrared wavelengths, since thermal infrared radiation can interfere with the signal - that's what the complex five-layer sunshield is for.

韦伯还需要保持在一个非常冷的工作温度，以便观察中红外波长，因为热红外辐射可以干扰信号-这是复杂的五层遮阳板的目的。

The next step for the Webb team will be to fully deploy this sunshield. This is the part that had technical problems in 2017 - several tears were discovered in the silicon- and aluminium-coated polyimide sheets, attributed to "workmanship error".

韦伯团队的下一步将是全面部署这种遮阳板。这是2017年出现技术问题的部分——在硅和铝涂层聚酰亚胺片上发现了几处撕裂，原因是“工艺错误”。

The sunshield has since been tested individually, as have all the other components. Now the aim is to see if they work as intended on the fully assembled telescope, with a full battery of deployment and environmental tests.

自那以后，遮阳板和其他所有部件都分别进行了测试。现在的目标是看看它们是否能在完整组装的望远镜上正常工作，并进行完整的部署和环境测试。

"This is an exciting time to now see all Webb's parts finally joined together into a single observatory for the very first time," said Webb program director Gregory Robinson of NASA HQ.

“这是一个激动人心的时刻，现在看到韦伯的所有部分终于结合在一起，成为一个单一的天文台，这是第一次，”韦伯项目主任格雷戈里罗宾逊说，美国宇航局总部。

"The engineering team has accomplished a huge step forward and soon we will be able to see incredible new views of our amazing universe."

“工程团队已经向前迈出了一大步，不久我们就能看到令人难以置信的宇宙新景象。”