中国建全球最大射电望远镜探测外星生物

Installation was completed on the world's largest radio telescope on Sunday morning as the last panel was fitted into the center of the big dish.

上周日上午，随着最后一块面板被装入巨大镜面的中心，世界最大射电望远镜的安装工作正式结束。

Hoisting of the last triangular panel to the reflector, which is the size of 30 football fields, began at 10:47 a.m. and lasted about 40 minutes. The telescope's planned launch of operations is in September.

从当天上午10点47分开始，经过40分钟的时间，最后一块三角板成功吊装到了反射器上。该望远镜接收面积相当于30个足球场那么大，并计划将于9月投入使用。

About 300 people, including builders, experts, science fiction enthusiasts and reporters, witnessed the installation at a karst valley in Pingtang County in the southwestern province of Guizhou.

包括建筑商、专家、科幻爱好者和记者在内的共计约300人，目睹了在西南部贵州省平塘县岩溶山谷进行的组装工作。

Scientists will then begin debugging and trial observation of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), said Zheng Xiaonian, deputy head of the National Astronomical Observation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

中科院国家天文台副台长郑晓年表示，科研人员将开始对这个500米口径球面射电望远镜进行调试，并用它进行预备性观测。

The project has the potential to search for more strange objects to better understand the origin of the universe and boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial life, said Zheng.

他表示，该项目有助于寻找更多奇异天体，从而更好地了解宇宙起源并推动全球对地外生命的探索。

Zheng said the radio telescope will be the global leader for the next 10 to 20 years.

郑晓年说，这一射电望远镜将在未来10至20年保持世界一流的地位。

Upon completion, the telescope will dwarf Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory, which is 300 meters in diameter. It will also be 10 times more sensitive than the steerable 100-meter telescope near Bonn, Germany, he said.

该望远镜完成后，将使波多黎各阿雷西博天文台直径为300米的望远镜相形见绌。郑晓年称，该望远镜的灵敏度还将是坐落于德国波恩附近的100米望远镜的10倍。