太空望遠鏡已經(jīng)完全組裝好了，看起來非常壯觀

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.

自從1996年詹姆斯·韋伯太空望遠鏡(JWST)項目開始以來，它的開發(fā)就一直受到拖延的困擾。但是一個重要的里程碑使結(jié)局更接近了：這臺榮耀的機器現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)完全組裝好了。

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.

空間觀測臺正在加利福尼亞州的諾斯羅普格魯曼航空航天技術(shù)公司的設施中建造，他們剛剛成功地將JWST的兩半連接起來——一個是望遠鏡和鏡子，另一個是遮陽板和航天器。

"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.

美國國家航空航天局戈達德航天飛行中心的韋伯項目經(jīng)理比爾·奧克斯說：“將望遠鏡及其科學儀器、遮陽板和宇宙飛船組裝到一個天文臺，代表了整個韋伯團隊的一項不可思議的成就。”

"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."

“這一里程碑象征著美國宇航局、歐洲航天局、加拿大航天局、諾斯羅普格魯曼公司、以及我們的其他工業(yè)和學術(shù)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遠鏡的繼任者，由于預算原因和技術(shù)挑戰(zhàn)，它的發(fā)射已經(jīng)推遲了好幾次。

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.

哈勃望遠鏡于1990年發(fā)射升空，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)沒有時間了。其最后一次服役任務是在2009年;從那以后，它的部件一直在失靈——哈勃已經(jīng)失去了它的六個陀螺儀中的三個。然而，如果我們真的幸運的話，這個天文臺可能還會持續(xù)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目前預定于2021年3月發(fā)布，看起來非常準時。而且在天空中肯定有空間放置兩個望遠鏡。韋伯的鏡子直徑為6.5米(21英尺)，而哈勃的鏡子直徑為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，韋伯望遠鏡將以略微不同和較長的波長觀測天空，從可見光到中紅外。哈勃的能力范圍從紫外到近紅外，因此韋伯能夠在較長的距離內(nèi)觀察高紅移的物體，搜索哈勃看不見的早期宇宙星系。

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.

韋伯還需要保持在一個非常冷的工作溫度，以便觀察中紅外波長，因為熱紅外輻射可以干擾信號-這是復雜的五層遮陽板的目的。

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".

韋伯團隊的下一步將是全面部署這種遮陽板。這是2017年出現(xiàn)技術(shù)問題的部分——在硅和鋁涂層聚酰亞胺片上發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾處撕裂，原因是“工藝錯誤”。

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，遮陽板和其他所有部件都分別進行了測試?，F(xiàn)在的目標是看看它們是否能在完整組裝的望遠鏡上正常工作，并進行完整的部署和環(huán)境測試。

"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.

“這是一個激動人心的時刻，現(xiàn)在看到韋伯的所有部分終于結(jié)合在一起，成為一個單一的天文臺，這是第一次，”韋伯項目主任格雷戈里羅賓遜說，美國宇航局總部。

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

“工程團隊已經(jīng)向前邁出了一大步，不久我們就能看到令人難以置信的宇宙新景象。”