中國發射首個X射線太空望遠鏡

China launched its first x-ray telescope Thursday morning, a significant step in the country’s race to develop a space program that can rival that of the US or Russia.

週四早上，中國發射了首個X射線太空望遠鏡。在中國發展可與美俄匹敵的太空計劃的征程中，此舉是邁出了重要一步。

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) took off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the country’s first satellite launch site, located in Inner Mongolia via a domestically-developed Long March-4B rocket, writes Emily Feng in Beijing.

這一“硬X射線調製望遠鏡”（Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope，簡稱HXMT）由一枚在國內研製的長征四號乙(Long March-4B)運載火箭從酒泉衛星發射中心發射升空。酒泉衛星發射中心位於內蒙古，是中國第一個衛星發射場地。

Once in orbit, the telescope will be used to observe high-energy entities like black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts in order to understand more about their energy sources.

一旦進入軌道，該望遠鏡將被用於觀測諸如黑洞、脈衝星和伽馬射線暴等高能實體，以更好地理解它們的能量來源。

Work on the telescope began in 2000 as a joint collaboration between China’s Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

2000年，作爲中國科技部(Ministry of Science and Technology)、中科院(CAS)和清華大學(Tsinghua University)的合作項目，圍繞該望遠鏡的研製工作在北京啓動。

China has poured enormous resources into developing its ambitious space program, which has sought to emulate many of the achievements of its American and Russian counterparts such as putting a man on the moon. In April, China successfully launched its first cargo spacecraft, the Tianzhou-1, to support its fledgling space lab.

中國在發展其雄心勃勃的空間計劃方面投入了大量資源。這一空間計劃試圖趕超美國和俄羅斯同類計劃的許多成就——比如把人類送上月球。今年4月，中國成功發射了首個貨運飛船天舟一號(Tianzhou-1)，以支持其剛剛建成的太空實驗室。