·科技翻译自学·
S ix K eyT ech no logies
NASAsuccessfullyadaptedcomm u nicati onsanddatagatheringtechnologiestosends mall ,
. Butmoreresearchwillberequiredinorder todevelopthecritechnologicallyadvancedspacecrafttoexploreMars
ticalsystemsneededtostudyplanetsbeyondoursolarsystem , accordingtoacommitteeoftheNati onalResearchCounci l
Thecommitteereport , SpaceTechnologyfortheNewCentury , recommendssixpri oritiesfor deepspaceexploration :
1Developtoolsformi ni ngresourcesfromtheMoon , Mars .
durati onmissi Rocketpropellant .
2.
, highdefiniti on p i ct u r e stoEarthusingmicrowaveor
. Mostofthetechnologyalreadyexists , butmoreresearch Opticaltrans ons basedonlasertechnologies
Isneededtoreduceweightandpowerrequirements , i m proveperformanceoverextremelylongdistances , and
. DeveloplowcostEarthandspacebasedreceivers
3Createmicroelectromechanicalsystemsforspace .
Microelectromechanicaltechnologyhasproducedmicroscopic gears, sensors , ands witchesforuse on Earth . NASAshouldadaptthesetoolsforuseinspacecraftsensor , communicati ons , navigati on , power , Andpropulsi on systemsand, eventually , createminiature spacecraft.
4Putnuclearpowertowork .Manydeepspacemissi onsthatareunabletorelyonsolar
. Nuclearpowers Energy coulduseadvancednuclearreactors
systemsarecompact , durable , andresisttospaceradiati onanddust storms.
Researchshouldfocusnow
i m provingenergyconversi onefficiencyanddevelopingsafernuclearpowersourcesthroughnewmaterialsanddesigns .
5Shieldcomputememoriesandelectronicsfrom radiation .Radiati oninspacedamages
. Tocombatthisproblem , weneedtodeveloplightweightshieldingprotective Sensitivecomputersanddisruptssignals
. materials , anddatarecovery methods
6Stabilizeantennas andmirrors . Thesetypesoflarge , lightweightstructuresaredifficulttocontrolinweightless
. Techniquestopreciselymeasureandcontroltheexactpositi onsofsuchinstrumentsareaprerequis spaceenvironments
. ite fordevelopinggiantspaceradarandtelescopesforfuturemissions
Willhumansevervisitotherstarsandcolonize planetsindeepspacethatofferconditions
Si m ilartothoseonearth ? Onlyoneinathousandplanetarybodiesislikelytomeetallofourconditi ons —atemperate
. Since cli m ate , oceans andcontinents , andatmospherelikeEart h’s
thestarclosesttoEarthismorethanfourlightyearsaway , theright planetcirclingtherightsun
Space
4 期 李鲁:未来太空探索的六个关键技术 53 attherightdistancewillhardlybefoundcloserthan10250light 2yearsfromoursun .Thefarthest
starsinourowngalaxy arenearly 100,000light 2yearsfromus ’. χο
suchdistanceswithintheirlifeti m es ? Theyprobabl
ywon’t
.Thefirsttravelerstodistantstarswillnotbepeople , butroboti cprobes, lessthanthespeedoflightmovingatmuchandrequiringcenturiestoinvestigatedistantsolar systems. Only afterexploratoryworkisdoneandweknowthenatureofourneargalacticsurroundingscanhumanityaffordtoventurefa rtherintothecos mos .
Theonlyconceivablewaythatpeoplewilltraveling deepspace isthroughmeansofhumancolonieslivinginlargespaceislands , assuggestedbyGerardO ’Neill , aphysicsprofessoratPr incetonUniversity . Thereisnoreasontoexpectthattheselargeobjects , weighingmilli onsoftons , willbecapableofmovi nganywherenearthespeedoflight . Sounlesspeopleareput
inaStateofsuspendedani m ati on manygenerati onswillcomeandgobeforethe “promisedland ” χ
Oflongdistancespacetravelhasbeenreached .