China’s space ambitions have taken a further step down a path blazed by the US decades ago, after revelations that its first space laboratory is likely to fall to earth next year.

中国的航天雄心沿着美国几十年前就趟出的道路又向前迈进了一步。有消息称，中国首个太空实验室很可能将于明年坠回地球。

In a press conference at Jiuquan, the desert launch site for China’s space rockets, Wu Ping, a director at China’s space engineering office, said the Tiangong-1 would most likely burn up on descent, confirming suspicions that the lab was no longer in a controlled orbit.

在位于沙漠地带的酒泉卫星发射中心举行的新闻发布会上，中国载人航天工程办公室副主任武平表示，天宫一号(Tiangong-1)最有可能的结果是在陨落过程中烧蚀销毁。这一表态证实了关于该实验室不再处于受控轨道的猜测。

The eight-tonne lab was launched in 2011 and decommissioned earlier this year.

这座重达8吨的实验室是于2011年发射的，并在今年早些时候退役。

The possibility of an uncontrolled descent is reminiscent of the 1979 re-entry of Skylab, Nasa’s first space laboratory, that generated a storm of media attention in the weeks before it crashed to earth.

可能发生的失控坠落，让人回想起了1979年美国国家航空航天局(NASA)首座太空实验室天空实验室(Skylab)重入大气层那件事。在坠回地球之前的几周里，那次重入引发了媒体的疯狂关注。

Mr Wu did not say when the Tiangong-1 was likely to re-enter the atmosphere.

武平并未言明天宫一号可能于何时重入大气层。

China is rapidly catching¹ up with the US, EU and Russia in space, building its own networks of telecommunications satellites and mimicking² earlier ambitions for a mission to the moon.

中国正在太空领域飞速地追赶美国、欧盟(EU)和俄罗斯，它建立了自己的通信卫星网络，并照猫画虎地制定了自己的登月抱负。

It landed a moon rover, the Jade³ Rabbit, on the moon in 2013 but a defect in the rover’s solar panels means it is effectively defunct⁴.

2013年，中国将玉兔号(Jade Rabbit)月球车送上月球。然而，玉兔号的太阳能电池板出了故障，导致它事实上无法继续工作。

A satellite launched earlier this summer has the distinction of being the first where China is scientifically in the lead, as it will test the principle of quantum entanglement⁵ over long distances.

中国今年夏天早些时候发射的一颗卫星有一个独特之处，它是首颗涉及中国在科学上拥有领先地位的领域的卫星。这颗卫星将检验长距离的量子纠缠原理。

If successful, the technology will, in theory, allow any snooping on communications to be detected, but a Chinese cryptographer has argued that the messages are still vulnerable to being destroyed, limiting its military value.

这种技术一旦成功，理论上将能够察觉任何对通信的监听。不过，中国一位密码学家认为，用这种技术传递的信息依然很容易遭到破坏，从而限制了它的军事价值。

The Tiangong-1 served as a base for experiments for more than four years, roughly twice as long as originally anticipated.

天宫一号作为实验基地已服役了四年多，差不多是最初预期寿命的两倍。

It will be replaced with the Tiangong-2, which launched last week.

它将由日前发射的天宫二号(Tiangong-2)代替。

The large expanses of ocean and desert on earth means that the portions of the lab that do not burn up on entering the atmosphere are unlikely to hit populated areas.

地球上海洋和荒漠面积广大，意味着天宫一号重入大气层后未烧蚀销毁的部分不太可能击中有人居住的地区。

In 1979, large segments of Skylab crashed to earth in a remote part of Australia, prompting the shire of Esperance to fine Nasa A$400 for littering.

1979年，天空实验室的多块大型残骸坠落在澳大利亚一个偏远的地区，结果NASA被埃斯佩兰斯郡(Esperance)罚了400澳元，罪名是乱丢杂物。

The fine was only paid in 2009 when an California radio host raised the money from listeners.

这笔罚款到了2009年才被支付，当时加利福尼亚州一电台主持人从听众中那里筹来了这笔钱。