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Landing on the Moon is difficult. Of the five robotic landers that have made the attempt in the past year, only two succeeded.
登陆月球很困难。在过去的一年里，五个机器人着陆器进行了尝试，只有两个成功了。
Both successful landers were sent by national space agencies—those of India and Japan—though the Japanese probe, called SLIM, suffered an engine failure and landed upside down.
两个成功的着陆器都是由印度和日本的国家航天局发射的，尽管日本的探测器，被称为SLIM，遭遇了引擎故障，倒挂着陆。
Luna 25, a lander sent by Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, collided with the lunar surface after going into the wrong orbit.
由俄罗斯联邦航天局发射的月球25号着陆器在进入错误的轨道后与月球表面相撞。
Two landers from private companies also failed: hakuto-r, sent by a Japanese firm, crashed during landing, and Peregrine, made by Astrobotic, an American company, suffered a propellant leak and never made it to the Moon.
来自私人公司的两个着陆器也失败了:日本公司发射的hakuto-r在着陆过程中坠毁，美国公司Astrobotic制造的游隼号因推进燃料泄漏而未能到达月球。
As a result, all eyes are now on Odysseus, another private lander which set off for the Moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 shortly after 6am gmt on February 15th.
结果，现在所有的目光都集中在另一个私人着陆器奥德修斯号，它在2月15日格林尼治时间早上6点后不久，搭载SpaceX的猎鹰9号火箭向月球发射。
All being well it should land within eight days.
如果一切顺利，它将在8天内着陆。
Built by Intuitive Machines, another American firm, Odysseus is, like Astrobotic's ill-fated Peregrine, part-funded by America's space agency, NASA, as part of its "commercial lunar payload services" (clps) programme.
奥德修斯号由另一家美国公司Intuitive Machines建造，就像Astrobotic公司失败的游隼号一样，由美国宇航局(NASA)部分资助，作为其“商业月球有效载荷服务”(clps)计划的一部分。
This involves nasa acting as an "anchor tenant" on commercial landers and buying several payload slots, rather than building and operating such vehicles itself.
这个计划包括NASA作为商业着陆器的“锚定租户”，购买几个有效载荷槽，而不是自己建造和操作这些飞行器。
Intuitive Machines is contracted under clps to send three landers to the Moon, of which this is the first.
Intuitive Machines公司签署商业月球有效载荷服务(clps)，将向月球发射三个着陆器，这是第一个。
Intuitive Machines is aiming to land Odysseus near the Moon's south pole, an area never visited before and deemed rich with promise because of the presence of frozen liquids and gases in some of its craters.
Intuitive Machines公司的目标是让奥德修斯号在月球南极附近着陆，这是一个以前从未去过的地区，由于它的一些陨石坑中存在冷冻液体和气体，因此被认为是充满希望的。
Those deposits are of great interest to scientists and may also be of practical use, providing water or rocket fuel to future lunar bases and the rockets launching from them.
这些沉积物引起了科学家们的极大兴趣，也可能有实际用途，为未来的月球基地和那里的火箭发射提供水或燃料。
The planned landing site is near a crater called Malapert A, close to many of the candidate landing sites for NASA's proposed Artemis III mission, which is intended to take humans back to the Moon later this decade.
计划中的着陆点在一个名为Malapert A的陨石坑附近，靠近美国宇航局拟议的阿尔忒弥斯3号任务的许多候选着陆点，该任务旨在在这个十年的晚些时候将人类带回月球。
But if all goes well, a successful lunar landing by Odysseus would not just be the first by a private company.
但如果一切顺利，奥德修斯成功登陆月球将不仅仅是私人公司的第一次成功登录。
It would also be the first soft landing on the Moon by an American-made spacecraft since the Apollo 17 mission of 1972, the last time astronauts visited.
这也将是自1972年阿波罗17号任务以来，第一个在月球上软着陆的美国制造的宇宙飞船，阿波罗17号是宇航员最后一次登月。
So there is a lot riding on Odysseus—both figuratively and practically.
所以奥德修斯号肩负着很大的责任，既有象征意义，也有实际意义。
The two-tonne lander, roughly the size of a telephone box, is carrying six NASA payloads that are intended to pave the way for future human visits and a potential long-term presence.
这个两吨重的着陆器，大约有电话亭那么大，携带着6个美国宇航局的有效载荷，旨在为未来人类的访问和潜在的长期存在铺平道路。
Five of NASA's instruments will test various navigation and landing technologies.
NASA的五个仪器将测试各种导航和着陆技术。
The sixth will assess the Moon's potential as a site for radio astronomy, as well as the challenges of radio communication from a location where Earth is always low on the lunar horizon.
第六个将评估月球作为射电天文学站点的潜力，以及从地球始终处于月球地平线低处的位置进行无线电通信的挑战。
The probe is also carrying six commercial payloads, including ilo-x, which will test astronomical imaging equipment for a future lunar observatory; EagleCam, a "selfie" camera intended to detach from the probe just before it touches down, letting it snap its own landing; and a set of tiny sculptures by Jeff Koons, an American artist, called "Moon Phases”.
该探测器还携带了6个商业有效载荷，包括ilo-x，它将测试未来月球天文台的天文成像设备；EagleCam，一种“自拍”相机，打算在探测器着陆前与它分离，让它自己抓拍着陆；以及美国艺术家杰夫·昆斯的一组名为"月相”的小雕塑。
