建立火星基地是個糟糕的主意：那我們開始吧！：英語精讀講義

From hostile deserts to lonely islands and the highest mountains,

從惡劣的沙漠到孤立的島嶼和最高的山峰，

wherever there is space to expand into,

只要有可以擴張的空間，

humans do so. 文法

人類就會涉足。

So, it's hardly surprising

所以，這並不令人驚訝：

that we're already making preparations to set foot on Mars 慣用語

我們已經開始準備涉足火星，

and to create the first permanent colony outside of Earth,

並建立地球以外的首個永久殖民地，

maybe even terraform another planet and turn it into a second blue home.

甚至可能對另一顆行星進行地球化改造，將其變成第二個藍色家園。

But wait, before we can get to the nice future stuff,

但是等等，在迎來這些美好的未來之前，

we first have to complete the second phase of colonization,

我們首先必須完成殖民的第二階段：

creating a semi-permanent outpost

建立一個半永久前哨站，

to prepare the ground for a larger human presence. 慣用語

為更多人類的到來鋪平道路。

But doing so will be gruesome.

但這過程將極其殘酷。

Even for an expansionist species like us,

即使對於像我們這樣喜歡擴張的物種來說，

Mars is extreme.

火星也太過極端。

At first glance, 表達脈絡

乍看之下，

Mars seems familiar.

火星似乎很熟悉。

Polar ice caps, large valleys,

極地冰蓋、巨大的峽谷、

liquid water under its surface,

地表下的液態水，

and a day barely longer than Earth's.

還有只比地球長一點點的一天。

The ideal place for us to go.

是我們前往的理想去處。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

Mars is actually a cold radioactive desert

火星實際上是一個寒冷、充滿輻射的沙漠，

where the ground is poisonous and breathing is impossible.

那裡的土地有毒，而且無法呼吸。

Mars is awful.

火星糟透了。

You almost certainly don't want to go there.

你絕對不想去那兒。

The pioneers doing the hard work on Mars

在火星上從事艱苦工作的先驅們

will have an intensely stressful life

將過著壓力極大的生活，

filled with incredibly challenging problems never encountered before. 文法

充滿了前所未見的極大挑戰。

But there are plenty of people willing to do that work,

但有很多人願意做這項工作，

and we have the technology to enable them to do it. 文法

而我們也有技術讓他們去完成。

For this video, 表達脈絡

在本影片中，

we will assume there have been prior missions to Mars

我們假設已經有過前往火星的早期任務，

to scout out a good place for an outpost, 片語動詞

勘探了一個適合建前哨站的好地方，

store resources and equipment,

儲備了資源和設備，

and that there's already a moon base that serves as a hub for Mars missions. 片語搭配

並且已經有一個月球基地作為火星任務的樞紐。

The first major challenge for our outpost is the fact that Mars is very energy poor. 用詞

我們的前哨站面臨的首個重大挑戰是，火星非常缺乏能源。

Because of its distance from the sun,

因為它距離太陽較遠，

solar power is only 40% as effective as on Earth. 文法

太陽能的效率只有地球上的40%。

But even this weakened sunlight is often obscured for days by enormous dust storms.

但即便如此微弱的陽光，也經常被巨大的沙塵暴遮蔽數天。

Solar power alone will probably not be enough.

單靠太陽能恐怕是不夠的。

Alternatives such as wind power and geothermal energy

風能和地熱能等替代能源

are also unfeasible as there's hardly any atmosphere, 文法

也行不通，因為幾乎沒有大氣層，

and Mars's interior is much too cold.

而且火星的內部太冷了。

Initially,

起初，

nuclear technology might be the only option.

核技術可能是唯一的選擇。

Since Mars doesn't have easily accessible radioactive elements,

既然火星上沒有容易獲取的放射性元素，

the nuclear fuel needs to come from Earth along with the reactor.

核燃料就需要連同反應堆一起從地球運來。

If we do set it up, 講解

如果我們確實建好了，

it could power our small outpost for the first few years.

它能在最初幾年為我們的小型前哨站供電。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

all that energy won't be very useful if we can't breathe.

如果無法呼吸，那麼多能源也沒多大用處。

Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth's, and mostly made up of CO2. 片語動詞

火星大氣密度只有地球的1%，且主要由二氧化碳組成。

So, our habitats need to be pressurized

所以，我們的居住區必須進行加壓，

and filled with an artificial atmosphere

並注滿人造大氣，

made of nitrogen and oxygen,

即由氮氣和氧氣組成，

which comes with more problems. 片語動詞

這又會帶來更多問題。

Corners and flat walls are weak points,

拐角和平直的牆壁是薄弱點，

so the habitats will have rounded and smooth shapes

所以居住區需要是圓形且光滑的形狀，

to handle the stress of great pressure differences between the interior and exterior. 用詞

以承受內外巨大壓力差帶來的應力。

The airlocks need to be very airtight and work perfectly every time.

氣閘必須絕對氣密，並且每次都要完美運行。

Without an extensive magnetosphere or a dense atmosphere,

由於沒有廣闊的磁層或稠密的大氣層，

half of all radiation coming from space reaches the ground.

來自太空的輻射有一半會到達地面。

A person on the surface would be subjected to 50 times the radiation 用詞

表面上的人將承受50倍的輻射，

that they would be on

相當於在

Earth.

地球上的情況。

Three years on the surface of Mars exceeds the radiation dose limits

在火星表面待三年，就會超過輻射劑量限制，

imposed on NASA astronauts for their entire career.

這超過了NASA對其太空人整個職業生涯的限制。

This increases cancer risks significantly.

這會大大增加罹癌風險。

To prevent that,

為了防範這一點，

we could shield our habitats with a thick layer of frozen CO2

我們可以在居住區外覆蓋一層厚厚的冷凍二氧化碳作為屏障，

that can be harvested directly from the atmosphere.

這是直接從大氣中提取的。

Covering the dry ice with a meter of dirt would further increase the level of protection.

在乾冰上再覆蓋一米厚的泥土，將進一步提高保護水平。

Sadly,

遺憾的是，

this means almost no windows.

這意味著幾乎不能有窗戶。

From the inside, 表達脈絡

從內部看，

most living spaces will be windowless tunnels.

大多數生活空間將是無窗的隧道。

From the outside,

從外部看，

they'll look like burial mounds.

它們會像墳塚一樣。

All of this would still not hold back all the radiation, 片語動詞

所有這些仍然無法阻擋全部輻射，

but reduce it just enough to be survivable for long periods of time. 文法

但能將其減少到剛好足以長期生存的水平。

It won't however,

然而，這無法

protect anyone who ventures outside.

保護任何冒險去室外的人。

So, remote controlled robots will be used for routine work on the surface,

因此，表面的日常工作將由遙控機器人來完成，

while our crew stays inside.

而我們的船員則留在室內。

Staying inside is a good idea for another reason,

留在室內也是個好主意，因為另一個原因：

Mars dust.

火星塵埃。

It's much finer than dust on Earth,

它比地球上的灰塵細得多，

so it could find its way into the gears or electronics of our machines. 慣用語

可能鑽進我們機器的齒輪或電子元件中。

Because it's also very dry,

因為它也非常乾燥，

it's electrostatically charged,

它帶有靜電，

sticking to everything,

會附著在所有東西上，

like spacesuits.

比如太空衣。

It will be impossible to avoid carrying lots of Mars dust into our habitats 文法

將大量火星塵埃帶入居住區是不可避免的，

and into the lungs of our crew.

甚至進入船員的肺部。

To make this even worse, 表達脈絡

更糟糕的是，

Mars's soil is filled with very toxic perchlorate salts. 文化背景

火星的土壤裡充滿了非常有毒的高氯酸鹽。

Constant exposure could be deadly.

持續接觸可能會致命。

This problem can still be overcome though. 表達脈絡

不過，這個問題仍然可以克服。

Spacesuits,

比如太空衣，

for example,

舉例來說，

could be made in a way that they never truly enter the base,

可以設計成永遠不會真正進入基地，

but stay attached to the outside of the habitats.

而是貼在居住區的外部。

Okay,

好吧，

great.

很好。

Now we've safely isolated humans in terms of energy and air 片語搭配

現在我們在能源和空氣方面安全隔離了人類，

and protected them from cancer,

保護了他們免受癌症困擾，

we just need to feed them.

我們只需要解決他們的食物問題。

Water is easy to come by if a settlement is positioned near the Martian poles 片語動詞

如果定居點設在火星兩極附近，憑藉厚厚的冰層，水是很容易得到的。

with their thick layers of ice.

那裡有厚厚的冰層。

Growing food is a different kind of challenge though.

不過，種植食物是另一項挑戰。

Mars's soils are alkaline and lack the vital nitrogen compounds

火星土壤呈鹼性，且缺乏重要的含氮化合物，

that plants need to grow.

這些都是植物生長所必需的。

Before we can grow anything, 文法

在種植任何東西之前，

we will have to decontaminate the soil,

我們必須要對土壤進行去污處理，

which is difficult and expensive.

既困難又昂貴。

Then the soil can be fertilized using recycled biological waste.

然後可以使用回收的生物廢物對土壤進行施肥。

All of this will take a lot of time and is very energy intensive. 片語搭配

這所有一切都需要耗費大量時間，並且極度消耗能源。

So,

所以，

we might use aquaponics to raise fish and plants together, 文化背景

我們可能會利用魚菜共生系統將魚和植物一起養殖，

making the astronauts' diets more varied and tasty at the same time.

同時讓太空人的飲食更加多樣化且美味。

This will be an important psychological boost for our over-worked crew. 片語搭配

這將對我們勞累過度的船員產生重要的心理安慰作用。

All of these things don't solve one fundamental problem though.

然而，這一切並不能解決一個根本問題。

Mars has only 38% of Earth's surface gravity,

火星表面重力僅有地球的38%，

which could cause muscle wasting,

這可能導致肌肉萎縮、

bone loss,

骨質流失、

and cardiovascular problems.

和心血管問題。

While this might be solved in the future by setting up rotating living spaces, 表達脈絡

雖然這在未來可能通過建立旋轉生活空間來解決，

for now our crew has to live with low gravity 片語動詞

但目前，我們的船員必須在低重力環境下生活，

and exercise a lot to slow the degradation down. 片語動詞

並進行大量鍛煉以減緩身體機能的衰退。

The crews will probably have to rotate every few years 用詞

船員們可能必須每隔幾年輪換一次，

after being stuck indoors in tight spaces without windows

在被困於沒有窗戶的狹小室內空間，

with the same people performing the same routines

與相同的人一起執行相同的日常任務，

day in day out with little contact from the outside world 慣用語

日復一日，與外界幾乎沒有聯繫，

and a lot to worry about.

並且有許多值得擔憂的事情之後。

Like Antarctic scientists or submarine staff, 表達脈絡

就像南極科學家或潛艇工作人員一樣，

they will undergo intense psychological screening 片語搭配

他們將接受嚴格的心理篩查，

to make sure they're mentally resilient enough to handle this lifestyle for several years.

以確保他們在心理上有足夠的韌性，能應付幾年這樣的生活方式。

Establishing the first real infrastructure on Mars will be extremely taxing work 用詞

在火星建立第一個真正的基礎設施將是一項極其費力的工作，

that only a group of very determined and competent people can do.

只有一群非常堅定和有能力的人才能做到。

Luckily,

幸運的是，

we have enough of these on Earth.

我們地球上有足夠多這樣的人。

And there you have it. 片語搭配

所以，你看到了：

A small Mars base that will survive for at least a few decades.

一個能存活至少幾十年的小型火星基地。

As long as it's getting a constant supply of resources, 講解

只要能源源不斷地獲得資源、

parts, nuclear fuel,

零件、核燃料，

and crews from Earth.

和來自地球的船員的補給。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

Mars and Earth are separated by millions of kilometers

火星和地球之間相隔數百萬公里，

and orbital periods that leave only a narrow travel window every 2 years. 文化背景

以及軌道週期，使得每兩年才有一次狹窄的旅行窗口。

If there's an emergency in the colony,

如果殖民地發生緊急情況，

Earth wouldn't be able to help until the next travel window opens. 文法

地球要等到下一個旅行窗口開啟才能提供幫助。

Helpers may arrive on a planet filled with corpses.

救援人員抵達時，可能面對的是一個滿地屍體的星球。

Settling Mars will be the toughest challenge we have ever faced. 文法

定居火星將是我們面臨的最艱難挑戰。

It will be gruesome work to establish the infrastructure we need.

建立我們需要的基礎設施將是艱苦卓絕的工作。

But we're stubborn,

但我們很固執，

and we like extreme challenges.

而且我們喜歡極端的挑戰。

If we push through phase 2 of colonization, 片語動詞

如果我們堅持挺過殖民的第2階段，

anything is possible.

一切皆有可能。

Cities illuminating the dark Martian night,

照亮黑暗火星之夜的城市、

a hub for travel between the planets,

星際旅行的樞紐、

industry setting foot in orbit, 慣用語

涉足軌道的工業、

terraforming,

地球化改造、

a true multi-planetary future.

一個真正的多行星未來。

Going to Mars is hard,

儘管去火星很難，

but worth it. 片語搭配

但值得一去。

And if we're lucky,

如果我們夠幸運的話，

we might be around long enough to see it happening 用詞

我們或許能活得足夠久，親眼看到它的發生，

and cheer on the people who take on these challenges 片語動詞

並且為那些迎接這些挑戰的人們加油打氣，

for the benefit of us all. 片語搭配

他們是為了造福我們所有人。