A Chinese Myth BehindNaming Chinese LunarExploration Program 中國探月工程命名的由來

Juno

從古至今，中國人對月亮有過無數(shù)浪漫想象。2004年，中國探月工程正式立項，.從嫦娥一號升空，到嫦娥五號攜月壤返回，中國人一步步將“上九天攬月”的神話變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實。嫦娥，這是我們耳熟能詳?shù)纳裨拏髡f故事人物，而現(xiàn)在也是中國航天項目和設(shè)備的名稱，是獨屬于中國航天的名字，也是獨屬于中國人的浪漫。航天設(shè)備使用神話人物命名，不僅表現(xiàn)出了中國傳統(tǒng)文化的博大精深，更是一種符合時代特色的產(chǎn)物。

China's Lunar Exploration Program（CLEP）， also known as the Chang'e Program，is a program undertaken by the China National Space Administration（CNSA）. As earlyas in 1991， Chinese space scientists proposed the project of lunar exploration. Theyput together the three-stage plan of "Orbiting， Landing and Returning" in 2004.

The first is orbital mission， simply reaching lunar orbit， a task completed byChang'e 1 on October 24， 2007. The second is soft lander， landing and 3）roving onthe Moon， as Chang'e 3， the spacecraft was successfully launched on December 2，2013. The third is return mission， collecting lunar samples from the near-side andsending them to Earth. The return capsule of China's Chang'e-5 probe touched downon Earth on December 17th 2020， bringing back the country's first samples collectedfrom the moon.

It seems that for thousands of years， Chinese people had longed to go to the moon，and the dream are coming true.

For Chinese people， "Chang'e" the name of Chinese lunar probe is a householdname and easy to 5）resonate with. It all because that this name came from a famousChinese myth and later have been written in ancient classic and poems often times. Themyth has many versions and now we are going to share the most popular one with you.

It is said that long ago there used to be 10 suns shining in the sky. The crop wasdrying and people 6）suffered a lot. There was a powerful 7narcher named Hou Yi， whohad great sympathy for people's sufferings from the 8）blistering weather and decided tohelp them out. Hou Yi climbed up to the summit of Kunlun Mountains， and shot down ninesuns， leaving only one to benefit people. After he shot down the suns， Hou Yi became ahero who was 9）revered by local people.

Hou Yi was so famous for his perfect archery skills， so many people became followersof him and learned from him. A man named Pang Meng who was 10）treacherous andgreedy was among them.

Later， Hou Yi married a beautiful girl—Chang'e. The young couple lived a happy andsweet life. One day， the Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi an 1Ielixir. This elixircould help people who drank it ascend to heaven and become immortal. However， Hou Yiwas not willing to leave his wife Chang'e alone on the earth， so he gave her the elixir forsafekeeping.

Unfortunately， Pang Meng found this secret and made a plan to steal it. On themorning of a 15th day of an 8th lunar month， when Hou Yi and other 12）apprentices wentout for hunting， Pang pretended to fall ill and stayed at home. After they left， Pangforced Chang'e to give him the elixir. Chang'e， knowing that she could not defeat Pang，13）swallowed the elixir herself， and immediately she felt herself floating up and flied tothe sky.

Hou Yi came back and didn't see Chang'e. He went outside and found that themoon was extremely clean and bright that night， and that there was a moving figurelike Chang'e in the moon. Hou Yi 14）desperately tried to catch up with the moon， butonce he chased forward， the moon went back， so he could never catch up. Hou Yi thenasked servants to set a table in his back garden and with his wife's favorite snacks andfruits on it， looking forward to meet and reunite with Chang'e. From then on， the customof worshipping the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival began to spread in China.

The Chinese nation has always attached great significance to the inheritance anddevelopment of its own fine traditional culture， like name China's Lunar ExplorationProgram as the Chang'e Program， a fusion ofChina's past and future in thescientific community.Outstanding Chinese scientists in the long sweepof history not only show their scientific spirit ofexploration， adventure and pursuing the truth butalso share profound humanistic care and historicalvision.

中國探月工程，也稱“嫦娥工程”，是國家航天局啟動的探月工程。早在1991年，中國航天專家提出開展月球探測工程。2004年制定了“繞、落、回”三個階段的實施計劃。

第一階段是軌道任務(wù)，即簡單地到達月球軌道。嫦娥一號于2007年10月24日成功發(fā)射。第二階段是軟著陸，即在月球上著陸和漫游。2013年12月2日，嫦娥三號成功發(fā)射升空。第三個階段是返回。即采集月球樣本并將其送至地球。2020年12月17日，嫦娥五號返回器攜帶月球樣品著陸地球。

幾千年來，中國人似乎一直渴望登月，而現(xiàn)在夢想正照進現(xiàn)實。

對于中國人來說，“嫦娥”——中國月球探測器之名是家喻戶曉的名字，很容易引起共鳴，因為這個名字來自一個中國著名的神話傳說，后來被寫進古代經(jīng)典著作和詩歌中。這個神話故事衍生了很多不同的版本，現(xiàn)在一起來了解下最常見的這個版本吧。

據(jù)說很久以前，天空中曾經(jīng)有十個太陽同時出現(xiàn)。莊稼干涸了，人們遭受了很大的痛苦。有一個強大的弓箭手叫后羿，他對遭受酷熱天氣折磨的人表示深切的同情，并決定幫助他們擺脫困境。后羿爬上昆侖山的山頂，射下九個太陽，只留下一個造福人民。射下太陽后，后羿成為一位受到當(dāng)?shù)厝顺缇吹挠⑿邸?/p>

因為后羿高超的射箭技巧，很多人向他拜師學(xué)藝。有個叫逢蒙的人，為人奸詐貪婪，也隨著眾人拜在后羿的門下。

后來，后羿娶了一個漂亮的女孩——嫦娥，他們過著幸福甜蜜的生活。一天，作為對他壯舉的獎勵，西王母送給后羿一丸仙藥。據(jù)說，吃了這種藥，不但能長生不老，還可以升天成仙?？墒?，后羿不愿意離開嫦娥，所以他把仙藥交給嫦娥保管。

可惜逢蒙發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個秘密，并密謀偷取仙藥。農(nóng)歷八月十五的一天早晨，后羿要帶弟子出門打獵，逢蒙假裝生病留了下來。他們走后，逢蒙闖進后羿家里，威逼嫦娥把仙藥交出來。知道自己無法打敗他，嫦娥立刻吞下了仙藥。她一吞下它，就飄飄悠悠地飛了起來，一直朝著月亮飛去。

后羿外出回來，不見妻子嫦娥。他沖出門外，只見當(dāng)晚的月亮非常皎潔明亮：月亮上有一個像嫦娥一樣的動人身影。后羿拼命想追上月亮，但是一旦他向前追，月亮就往后退，所以他永遠趕不上月亮。后來，后羿讓仆人在他的后花園擺一張桌子，桌上放著他妻子最喜歡的零食和水果，盼望與嫦娥相見。從此，中秋節(jié)拜月習(xí)俗開始在中國流傳。

中華民族歷來十分重視自身優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)文化的傳承和發(fā)展，例如命名中國的探月工程為嫦娥工程，這也是中國的過去與未來在科學(xué)界的融合。杰出的中國科學(xué)家在漫長的歷史長河中，不僅展現(xiàn)了他們的科學(xué)探索精神、冒險精神和追求真理的精神，而且有著深厚的人文關(guān)懷和歷史眼光。