Lunar geography has standard Chinese translation for first time

To meet the needs of the lunar exploration and scientific research, and to achieve the standardization of lunar geographical names, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China published the first batch of 470 standard Chinese translations of lunar geographical names.

As of now, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has published more than 9,000 lunar geographical names, including more than 1,900 important geographical names.

An official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that some principles have been followed basically when determining the translated names. First, the original habitual translation names have been maintained under the principle of "established by usage." Second, standardization is implemented according to China’s technical specifications.

Third, opinions of experts in related fields have been solicited and absorbed. The Ministry of Civil Affairs will take the principles of "batch processing," to publish the rest of the standard Chinese translation of the lunar geographical names.

By Yan Meng, People's Daily Online