月球快遞（Moon Express）是一間美國(guó)私人公司，由硅谷太空企業(yè)家創(chuàng)立，以挖掘月球自然資源，獲得經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值為目標(biāo)。去年，該公司成為美國(guó)政府批準(zhǔn)的首個(gè)可執(zhí)行太空探索任務(wù)的私人商業(yè)公司。近日，月球快遞表示已籌到足夠資金，并計(jì)劃于2017年開啟月球之旅。由于人們認(rèn)為月球含有豐富的資源，此舉或?qū)⒂肋h(yuǎn)改變能源和自然資源行業(yè)的命運(yùn)，成為國(guó)際空間探索中的里程碑。

A US company has secured funding to become the first private entity to travel to the moon, with a planned 2017 voyage that will be an international milestone in space exploration.
一家美國(guó)公司已籌集到資金確保其成為首個(gè)赴月的私人公司，他們計(jì)劃于2017年開啟月球之旅，此舉將成為國(guó)際空間探索中的里程碑。

Moon Express, a Florida-based firm, said it had raised $20m in financing, which will allow it to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon's surface later this year.
總部位于佛羅里達(dá)州的月球快遞公司稱，他們已籌集到2000萬(wàn)美元，這筆資金足夠他們?cè)诮衲晖硇r(shí)候向月球表面發(fā)射一個(gè)無(wú)人航天器。

The funding is a major step in the company's efforts to become the world's first private enterprise to travel outside the Earth's orbit.
這筆資金是助其成為全球首個(gè)赴月的私營(yíng)企業(yè)的關(guān)鍵一步。

Last year, Moon Express gained historic approvals from the US government after submitting a request for its voyage to the Federal Aviation Administration. An outer space treaty, which was adopted by the United Nations and regulates exploration of the celestial world, requires governments to authorize and supervise "non-governmental entities" seeking to travel in outer space.
去年，月球快遞向聯(lián)邦航空管理局遞交申請(qǐng)后，獲得了美國(guó)政府的批準(zhǔn)，這是一個(gè)歷史性的決定。聯(lián)合國(guó)通過(guò)的《外層空間條約》規(guī)范了對(duì)太空的探索，要求各國(guó)政府對(duì)進(jìn)入太空的“非政府實(shí)體”進(jìn)行授權(quán)和監(jiān)督。

"We now have all the resources in place to shoot for the Moon," Bob Richards, Moon Express's CEO, said in a statement announcing the funding achievements. "Our goal is to expand Earth's social and economic sphere to the Moon, our largely unexplored eighth continent, and enable a new era of low cost lunar exploration and development for students, scientists, space agencies and commercial interests."
月球快遞公司首席執(zhí)行官鮑勃?理查德斯在一份聲明中宣布了募資成果，他說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在我們所需的一切赴月資源都已到位。我們的目標(biāo)是將地球的社會(huì)和經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域拓展到基本沒(méi)有被開發(fā)的第八塊大陸——月球上，為學(xué)生、科學(xué)家、太空機(jī)構(gòu)以及商業(yè)利益開啟低成本探索開發(fā)月球的全新時(shí)代。

Moon Express has said it aims to mine the moon for minerals, and the tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain, its co-founder and chairman, has said he hopes to lower the costs of space travel and help pave the way for the colonization of the moon, and eventually of Mars.
月球快遞表示其目的是開采月球礦藏，該公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼董事長(zhǎng)內(nèi)維?杰恩稱，他希望降低太空旅行的成本，為定居月球并最終在火星定居做好準(zhǔn)備。

"The sky is not the limit for Moon Express – it is the launchpad," Jain said in an earlier statement after his firm gained federal approvals. "This breakthrough ruling is another giant leap for humanity. Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children."
早前，在月球快遞獲得聯(lián)邦政府的批準(zhǔn)后，杰恩曾在一份聲明中表示，“天空不是我們的邊界，而是我們的發(fā)射臺(tái)。這一突破性的決定是人類的又一次巨大飛躍。太空旅行是我們確保生存并為子孫后代創(chuàng)造無(wú)限未來(lái)的唯一途徑。”

The more immediate goal of the company, which formed in 2010, is to bring resources, metals and moon rocks back to Earth, Jain said. He also stated that in 15 years, he believes the moon will be an important part of the Earth's economy and "potentially our second home".
杰恩稱，公司2010年設(shè)立的近期目標(biāo)是從月球上帶回金屬、巖石等資源。他相信在15年內(nèi)月球?qū)⒊蔀榈厍蚪?jīng)濟(jì)的重要組成部分，并有“可能成為人類的第二故鄉(xiāng)”。

The company has said it believes the moon can "produce resources essential to humanity's future on Earth and in space".
月球快遞表示，他們相信在月球上可以“生產(chǎn)出對(duì)人類在地球和太空中的未來(lái)至關(guān)重要的資源”。

Moon Express is one of 16 teams that have competed for funding as part of Google's Lunar X Prize initiative, which launched in 2007 to incentivize private firms to develop technology and plans for planetary exploration.
月球快遞是參與谷歌月球X獎(jiǎng)金活動(dòng)的16支競(jìng)賽隊(duì)伍中的一支，該活動(dòng)發(fā)起于2007年，為的是鼓勵(lì)私營(yíng)公司開發(fā)技術(shù)和行星探測(cè)計(jì)劃。

Moon Express said it has raised a total of more than $45m from individuals and venture funds.
月球快遞表示他們已經(jīng)從個(gè)人和風(fēng)投基金籌集到共計(jì)超過(guò)4500萬(wàn)美元。

Last year, the US government advanced the process to establish rules for space launches in compliance with international treaties after Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates pushed forward with similar efforts.
繼盧森堡和阿聯(lián)酋通過(guò)類似決定之后，美國(guó)政府去年推進(jìn)了符合國(guó)際條約的太空發(fā)射規(guī)則建設(shè)進(jìn)程。

Motley Fool, a financial services site, has estimated that the mineral wealth of the moon may be quadrillions of dollars.
金融服務(wù)網(wǎng)站Motley Fool估算月球的礦產(chǎn)財(cái)富可能價(jià)值數(shù)萬(wàn)億美元。

英文來(lái)源：衛(wèi)報(bào)
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning