China officially activated¹ the world's largest single-aperture² telescope last Sunday.

上周日，我国正式启用全球最大单口径射电望远镜。

"It's so huge in size and the technology we use in its driving device and reflecting surface have never been used before," said Zhang Shuxin, deputy general manager of the Five-Hundred Aperture Spherical⁴ Telescope (FAST) project.

500米口径球面射电望远镜(FAST)项目副总经理张蜀新表示：“该项目规模庞大，其驱动装置和反射面采用了此前未利用过的技术。”

The telescope in Pingtang county, Guizhou, is 500 meters in diameter and equals the size of 30 soccer fields.

位于贵州平塘县的FAST直径为500米，面积相当于30个足球场。

"A paraboloid of 300 meters in diameter will be formed timely on the deflecting⁵ surface with the help of the driving device to receive signals," Zhang said.

张蜀新说：“借助驱动装置，反射面上将实时形成300米口径抛物面，以接收信号。”

It will take three to five years to debug the facility and make sure it will work as designed, he added.

他还补充说道，调试该设备将耗时3-5年，以确保其按设计初衷运作。

Anthony Beasley, director of National Radio Astronomy Observatory⁶ of the United States, said the FAST will bring Chinese astronomers⁷ to the fore³.

美国国家射电天文台主任安东尼·比斯利表示，FAST将使中国的天文学家们脱颖而出。

Construction of the nearly 1.2 billion yuan ($180 million) FAST project started in 2011, 17 years after it was proposed by Chinese astronomers.

花费近12亿元（折合1亿8000万美元）建设的FAST项目，在中国天文学家提出17年之后，于2011年正式启动的。