本集內(nèi)容

The harpoon that clears space junk 清理太空垃圾的 “魚叉” 捕捉器

學(xué)習(xí)要點(diǎn)

有關(guān) “space 太空” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What is thought to have cracked the window on the International Space Station?

文字稿

This is the moment a harpoon was fired in space striking a target almost dead centre. It was filmed 400km above the Earth. It’s the latest experiment from the RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft. Led by Surrey University, it’s a mission that’s testing out the technologies that could clean up space junk.

這是 “魚叉” 捕捉器在太空中發(fā)射后幾乎正中靶心的瞬間。這個(gè)片段是在地表上空 400 千米處拍攝的，展現(xiàn)了利用 RemoveDEBRIS 航天器進(jìn)行的最新試驗(yàn)。由英國(guó)薩里大學(xué)帶領(lǐng)開展的這項(xiàng)任務(wù)，測(cè)試這種可用于清除太空垃圾的技術(shù)。

Katie Bashford, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
It was absolutely a success. And the goal of the experiment was to hit the target. And that's what we did. It's important because there's so much debris up in space – from spacecraft that are no longer operational to bits of rocketbody. We really need to start clearing some of this debris out the way to make way for new spacecraft.

凱蒂·巴什福德 薩里衛(wèi)星技術(shù)有限公司
“試驗(yàn)非常成功。實(shí)驗(yàn)的目的是擊中目標(biāo)，而且我們做到了。試驗(yàn)意義重大，因?yàn)樘罩杏刑嗨槠?— 從停運(yùn)的航天器到火箭機(jī)身的碎片，不計(jì)其數(shù)。我們真得好好地清理一下這些碎片，為新的航天器騰出地方。”

Space is becoming increasingly cluttered. It’s estimated that there are now nearly 8,000 tonnes of debris with 800,000 pieces the size of a marble or bigger. And each piece has the potential to do some serious damage.

太空變得越來(lái)越雜亂不堪。據(jù)估計(jì)，宇宙中現(xiàn)有近 8000 噸碎片，其中約有 80 萬(wàn)塊碎片的大小相當(dāng)于或大于玻璃彈球的體積。而每一個(gè)碎片都有可能造成嚴(yán)重的破壞。

In 2016, this crack in the window of the International Space Station was thought to have been caused when a tiny fleck of paint hit it. Bigger objects could do even more harm.

2016年，國(guó)際空間站窗戶上的這道裂痕被認(rèn)為是由一個(gè)微小的油漆斑點(diǎn)擊中而造成的。更大的物體可能會(huì)造成更嚴(yán)重的危害。

Scientists are particularly worried about a European satellite the size of a double-decker bus that stopped working in 2012. It’s now threatening other satellites in its path and needs to be removed from its orbit.

科學(xué)家們尤其對(duì)一顆體積相當(dāng)于一輛雙層巴士的歐洲人造衛(wèi)星而感到擔(dān)憂，它在 2012 年停止運(yùn)行。現(xiàn)在，它給飛行前方的其它人造衛(wèi)星造成了威脅，所以需要被移出軌道。

Last year, the RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft also tested a net, proving it could catch a passing satellite. It’s the first mission to try and address this problem. And it’s also used its on-board cameras to track a tumbling target - essential for hunting down any rogue space litter.

去年，航天器 RemoveDEBRIS 還測(cè)試了一張?zhí)?“捕網(wǎng)”，并證明它能捕捉一個(gè)經(jīng)過(guò)的人造衛(wèi)星。這是第一個(gè)嘗試解決太空垃圾問(wèn)題的任務(wù)。此外，它還利用機(jī)載攝像機(jī)成功地跟蹤了一個(gè)翻滾的目標(biāo)，這對(duì)追捕任何離軌的太空垃圾來(lái)說(shuō)至關(guān)重要。

Its final test will be in the coming weeks. It’s set to burn up as it returns to Earth, preventing it from becoming a piece of space junk itself. The hope is now that future missions can be scaled up so the celestial deep clean can begin.

它的最終測(cè)試將在未來(lái)幾周內(nèi)進(jìn)行。飛船已被設(shè)定好在返回地球的途中自燃，以避免自身也淪為一塊太空垃圾。科學(xué)家們寄希望于擴(kuò)大未來(lái)太空任務(wù)的規(guī)模，這樣就可以開始做一次深層太空大掃除了。

詞匯

mission 太空任務(wù)

space station 空間站

satellite 人造衛(wèi)星

orbit 軌道

celestial 太空的

問(wèn)題答案

A tiny fleck of paint is thought to have cracked the window.