来自太空的无限资源 —— 小行星采矿：英语精读讲义

Ah,

啊，

casually watching a video on YouTube

随手在YouTube上看个视频，

on a computer more powerful than anything humanity could build

你使用的电脑，比人类在

a few decades ago.

几十年前能造出的任何机器都要强大。

This progress and all the wonderful machines you take for granted 習語

这种进步以及你习以为常的所有奇妙机器，

are built on a few rare and precious materials with names like terbium,

都建立在一些稀有且珍贵的材料之上，它们的名字如铽（terbium）、

neodymium,

钕（neodymium）、

or tantalum.

或钽（tantalum）。

Getting these rare materials from the ground

将这些稀有材料从地下开采出来

into your devices is ugly.

并放入你的设备中，过程非常难看。

The mining industry is responsible for air and water pollution 短語搭配

采矿业不仅会导致空气和水污染，

and the destruction of entire landscapes.

还会破坏整个地貌。

Dangerous chemicals like cyanide,

氰化物、

sulfuric acid,

硫酸

or chlorine are used to extract the resources, 語法

或氯气等危险化学品被用于提取资源，

harming biodiversity, 語法

这会危害生物多样性，

workers,

工人，

and locals.

以及当地居民。

And rare resources are also political tools

稀有资源同时也是政治工具，

when countries restrict access to them to get their way. 習語

当国家为了达到目的而限制他人获取这些资源时。

But what if we could replace the mining industry on Earth 語法

但是，如果我们能取代地球上的采矿业，

with a clean process that can't harm anyone?

用一种不会伤害任何人的清洁工艺取而代之呢？

Well,

其实，

we can.

我们可以做到。

All we need to do is look up. 語法

我们只需抬头仰望。

Asteroids are millions of trillions of tons of rocks,

小行星是数百万亿吨的岩石、

metals,

金属

and ice,

和冰，

leftovers from the cloud that became the planets 4.5 billion years ago.

是45亿年前形成行星的星云留下的残骸。

They can be as small as a meter 語法

它们可以小到只有一米，

or protoplanets the size of entire countries.

也可以是大如整个国家的原行星。

Most of them are concentrated in the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt,

它们大多数集中在小行星带和柯伊伯带，

while hundreds of thousands more do their own thing between the planets. 習語

同时还有成千上万的小行星在行星之间自行游走。

As space travel is becoming more feasible, 表達脈絡

随着太空旅行变得越来越可行，

scientists and economists have begun looking at the resources found in these asteroids.

科学家和经济学家已开始关注这些小行星上的资源。

Even relatively small metallic asteroids

即使是相对较小的金属小行星，

may contain trillions worth of industrial and precious metals like platinum.

也可能含有价值数万亿的工业和贵金属，如铂金。

And bigger asteroids like 16 Psyche

而更大的小行星，如灵神星（16 Psyche），

could contain enough iron-nickel to cover the world's metal needs 語法

可能含有足够的铁和镍，足以满足全球的金属需求

for millions of years.

达数百万年之久。

At current market prices, 短語搭配

按目前的市场价格计算，

the rare raw materials alone would be worth quadrillions of dollars.

单是稀有原材料就价值数千万亿美元。

Well,

好吧，

not really, 語氣意圖

并非完全如此，

but technically.

但理论上是成立的。

For example,

例如，

there are more than 20 million tons of gold in the oceans' water,

海洋中含有超过2000万吨的黄金，

worth roughly 750 trillion US dollars.

价值约750万亿美元。

But filtering out the gold would be so expensive 講解

但是将其过滤出来的成本太高了，

that you'd lose money selling it.

以至于卖掉它还会亏本。

Right now,

眼下，

asteroid mining has exactly this problem.

小行星采矿面临的正是这个问题。

It's too expensive to replace mining on Earth. 語法

它的成本太高，无法取代地球上的采矿业。

Billions of dollars worth of valuable resources in space 表達脈絡

太空中价值数十亿美元的宝贵资源

are worthless if it costs trillions to get them.

如果需要花费数万亿去获取，那也毫无价值。

What makes it so hard?

是什么让它如此困难？

The principles behind mining an asteroid are simple.

小行星采矿的原理其实很简单。

The basic idea is to choose an asteroid,

基本思路是选择一颗小行星，

move it to a place where it's easy to process

将它移动到易于处理的地方，

and then take it apart to turn into useful products. 短語動詞

然后将其拆解，转化为有用的产品。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

all of this collides with fundamental problems

所有这些都与一些根本性问题相冲突，

humans have yet to solve. 語法

而人类尚未解决这些问题。

Going to space is expensive.

进入太空非常昂贵。

It costs thousands of dollars in rocket fuel for each kilogram

每公斤物品仅是火箭燃料成本就高达数千美元，

just to reach a low Earth orbit.

这还仅仅是到达近地轨道。

Going further out into deep space costs thousands more.

飞向更远的深空还要花费数千美元以上。

We need cheaper space travel to make asteroid mining profitable.

我们需要更廉价的太空旅行，才能让小行星采矿有利可图。

One solution is to switch from classical rockets to electric spaceships. 短語搭配

一个解决方案是从传统火箭转向电动飞船。

We already use electrical rocket engines

我们已经在许多执行科学任务的太空探测器上

for many of the space probes on science missions.

使用了电力火箭发动机。

In principle,

原则上，

we only need to build bigger ones.

我们只需要建造更大的发动机。

While electrical engines are not powerful enough to fly to space, 語法

虽然电力发动机的动力不足以飞入太空，

they require only a tiny amount of fuel to go very far once they're in space.

但一旦进入太空，它们只需要极少量的燃料就能飞得很远。

This means we don't need to spend a lot of money on fuel 短語搭配

这意味着我们不需要在燃料上花费大量资金，

only to transport fuel into space.

仅仅是为了把燃料运上太空。

This doesn't solve the whole cost problem,

这不能解决全部的成本问题，

but it makes it easier to start our first mission. 語法

但它让我们更容易启动第一次任务。

Now that we have an electric asteroid mining spaceship, 語法

既然我们有了电动小行星采矿飞船，

we need to find the right asteroid and get it there.

我们需要找到合适的小行星并将其送到那里。

We've already successfully visited asteroids with space probes

我们已经成功用太空探测器造访过小行星，

and even collected samples.

甚至采集了样本。

Still,

尽管如此，

to make it easier and cheaper,

为了让任务更容易、更便宜，

our first targets will probably be near-Earth asteroids,

我们的首选目标可能将是近地小行星，

asteroids that orbit,

也就是那些在轨道上运行的，

well,

嗯，

near-Earth.

靠近地球的小行星。

After a few months of travel,

经过几个月的航行，

our spaceship finally arrives at our asteroid.

我们的飞船终于抵达了目标小行星。

Weirdly formed, 語法

它的形状奇特，

littered with small impact craters,

布满了小型的撞击坑，

it hasn't changed much for billions of years.

在数十亿年里，它几乎没有发生什么变化。

The first thing that needs to be done 語法

需要做的第一件事

is to secure the asteroid and stop it from spinning.

是固定这颗小行星并阻止它旋转。

There are multiple ways to do this,

有很多方法可以做到这一点，

like vaporizing material with a laser

比如用激光汽化材料，

or stopping the rotation with thrusters.

或者用推进器停止其旋转。

Once we have a stable asteroid,

一旦我们有了一个稳定的小行星，

we need to wait.

我们需要等待。

Orbital mechanics are complicated,

轨道力学很复杂，

but if you push something in the right direction at exactly the right moment, 語法

但如果你在绝对正确的时刻朝着正确的方向推一下，

you can move very big things with very little force.

你就可以用很小的力量移动非常大的东西。

So,

所以，

we wait for exactly the right moment.

我们等待绝对正确的时刻。

Our ship fires its thrusters

我们的飞船点燃推进器，

and nudges the asteroid into a trajectory that takes it near our moon. 短語搭配

将小行星推入一条靠近我们月球的轨道。

The moon is useful

月球很有用，

because we can borrow its gravitational pull to put the asteroid in a stable orbit around Earth, 用詞

因为我们可以借用它的引力，把小行星送入一个稳定的环地轨道，

which saves even more fuel.

这样可以节省更多的燃料。

Again,

同样的，

the trip takes months.

这趟旅程需要几个月的时间。

But all the time since our ship was launched 語法

但自从我们的飞船发射以来，所有的这些时间

has not been wasted.

都没有白费。

The first space mining and processing equipment has been installed in orbit

第一批太空采矿和加工设备已经在轨道上安装完毕，

and is now carefully moving towards the asteroid.

现在正小心翼翼地向小行星移动。

The processor works very differently than on Earth.

这种处理设备的工作原理与地球上的截然不同。

Giant mirrors focus sunlight

巨大的镜子聚焦阳光，

and heat up asteroid rock to boil out the gases. 短語動詞

加热小行星岩石，将其中的气体蒸发出来。

Grinders break up the dried rocks into gravel and dust, 短語動詞

粉碎机将干燥的岩石分解成砾石和粉尘，

and centrifuges separate dense from light elements. 短語搭配

离心机则将重元素和轻元素分离开来。

Even if we only extract 0.01% of the asteroid's mass in precious metals, 語法

即使我们只能从小行星质量中提取出0.01%的贵金属，

this is still several times more

这也比你从地球上

than you'd get from the same amount of ore on the ground.

同等数量的矿石中得到的要多好几倍。

But what now? 表達脈絡

但接下来怎么办呢？

How do we get our precious metals safely back to ground?

我们该如何安全地把这些贵金属带回地面？

There are a few ways,

有几种方法，

like loading it into reusable rockets that return to Earth from space.

比如将它们装入从太空返回地球的可重复使用火箭。

Or if our processor contains 3D printers,

或者如果我们的处理设备配有3D打印机，

we can print a faster and cheaper delivery system.

我们可以打印出一种更快、更便宜的运输系统。

heat-shielded capsules filled with gas bubbles. 語法

充满气泡且带有隔热罩的太空舱。

These can just be dropped into the oceans, 語法

这些太空舱可以直接丢进海洋中，

where ships tow them away.

然后由船只把它们拖走。

This could be the starting point of humanity's first real steps 習語

这可能成为人类迈出第一步的起点，

towards colonizing the solar system.

走向殖民太阳系的真实征程。

As our infrastructure and experience grows,

随着我们基础设施和经验的增长，

our missions get more and more sophisticated. 語法

我们的任务会变得越来越成熟复杂。

Parts and fuel produced on asteroids

在小行星上生产的零部件和燃料

don't have to be launched from Earth at all. 語法

根本不需要从地球发射。

The first mining operation makes the second one easier, 語法

第一次采矿行动让第二次变得更容易，

and so on. 短語搭配

以此类推。

While the space industry grows 表達脈絡

当航天工业发展壮大，

and precious materials become cheaper,

贵重材料变得更便宜时，

eventually we could stop mining on Earth.

我们最终可以停止在地球上采矿。

Even the idea of toxic mining down here

甚至在地球上进行有毒采矿的想法

might become something weird and anachronistic, 用詞

都可能会变得奇怪且过时，

like having an open fire in your living room. 表達脈絡

就像在客厅里生明火一样。

Landscapes ravaged by pollution will heal, 語法

被污染破坏的地貌将会愈合，

while the technological wonders we're used to 語法

而我们习以为常的技术奇迹

get cheaper and less toxic to make.

制造起来会更便宜，毒性也更低。

None of this is science fiction. 表達脈絡

这些都不是科幻小说。

We don't need fancy materials or new physics

我们不需要花里胡哨的材料或新的物理学

to make asteroid mining happen. 短語搭配

就能实现小行星采矿。

We could start building this future today.

我们今天就可以开始构建这个未来。

All we need is an initial push. 表達脈絡

我们需要的，只是一个最初的推动力。