中国宇宙“天眼”开眼

The facility, named Five-hundred-meter *Aperture *Spherical Telescope (FAST), was proposed 17 years ago by Chinese astronomers. Work began on the installation in 2011.
这台500米口径的球面射电望远镜（FAST）由我国天文学家于17年前提出设想，于2011年开始动工安装。

FAST is a single-aperture telescope the size of 30 soccer fields, according to China Daily. It will search for gravitational waves, detect radio emissions from stars and galaxies, and listen for signs of intelligent *extraterrestrial life, scientists said.
据《中国日报》报道，单口径的FAST望远镜接收面积相当于30个标准足球场。科学家介绍称，它将用于搜索引力波、探测恒星和星系的射电辐射以及收听地外智慧生物的声音。

“The ultimate goal of FAST is to discover the laws of the development of the universe,” Qian Lei told China Daily. Qian is an associate researcher with the National Astronomical Observation, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which built the telescope.
“FAST的终极目标是发现宇宙发展的规律，”参与建造望远镜的中科院国家天文台副研究员钱磊在接受《中国日报》采访时介绍道。

“In theory, if there is civilization in outer space, the radio signal it sends will be similar to the signal we can receive when a radiation beam from a pulsar (spinning *neutron star) is approaching us,” Qian added.
“理论上来说，如果外太空有文明存在，它所发射的电波信号，与脉冲星（旋转中的中子星）的辐射束靠近时我们所接受到的信号十分相似。”钱磊补充道。

Zhang Shuxin, deputy general manager of the project, said foreign scientists will be invited to conduct their own space research at FAST once debugging is complete. The *colossal facility isn’t currently fully operational, with *calibration said to take up to three years before it reaches its full potential.
FAST项目副总经理张蜀新称，在调试环节完成后，将会邀请外国科学家使用FAST进行他们自己的太空研究。目前，这台巨型设备尚未完全投入使用，还需要经历长达三年的校准，才能发挥出它的最佳性能。

“(The telescope) will certainly generate enthusiasm, bring people into science, and make China important in the world of science,” Joseph Taylor, a Nobel Prize-winning astronomer at Princeton University, told Xinhua.
“毫无疑问，（这台望远镜）将提升中国民众对太空探索的热情，使更多的人走近科学，也将使中国在全球科技领域占据更重要的席位，”来自普林斯顿大学的诺贝尔奖得主、天文学家约瑟夫•泰勒向新华社表示。

Taylor expects FAST to be a “productive” project, even if he is unsure whether any of its discoveries will lead to a Nobel Prize.
泰勒预计，FAST将会是一个“富有成效的”项目，没准哪一天，FAST的发现就会获得诺贝尔奖。

But, FAST has already had a good start. In a recent trial observation, it received a set of high-quality electromagnetic waves sent from a *pulsar about 1,351 light-years away, Qian told Xinhua.
但FAST已经有了一个很好的开始。钱磊向新华社介绍称，在近期的一次试验性观测中，它成功接收到一组来自1351光年外的脉冲星的高质量电磁波。

The telescope’s leading engineer Wang Qiming said the telescope is expected to remain the global leader for the next 10 to 20 years.
此项目的总工程师王启明认为，FAST将在未来10到20年保持世界领衔的地位。