為什么比爾·奈的太陽帆對未來的太空旅行很重要

為什么比爾·奈的太陽帆對未來的太空旅行很重要

The idea of using sunlight to travel through space has been around for centuries, but Bill Nye and The Planetary Society are the first to make that concept a reality.

利用陽光穿越太空的想法已經有幾個世紀的歷史了，但是比爾·奈和行星學會是第一個將這一想法變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實的人。

The nonprofit Planetary Society announced that its crowdfunded solar sailing spacecraft, LightSail 2, has successfully raised its orbit using only the power of sunbeams.

非營利組織行星協(xié)會宣布，它的眾籌太陽能航行飛船“光劍2號”僅利用太陽光就成功地提升了軌道。

Years of work and $7 million in crowdfunding culminated in this achievement. The spacecraft launched on June 25, opened its sails on July 23 is expected to continue in this mode for the next month.

多年的工作和700萬美元的眾籌最終成就了這一成就。該航天器于6月25日發(fā)射，7月23日啟航，預計將在未來一個月繼續(xù)以這種模式運行。

LightSail2 successfully flies into space using sunlight. (Photo: The Planetary Society)

At a more basic level, the shiny sail on the spacecraft reflects particles of light called photons. As the photons bounce off the sail, they create tiny amounts of momentum, much like the wind blowing into a ship's sails.

在更基本的層面上，飛船上閃閃發(fā)光的帆反射光子。當光子從帆上反彈時，它們會產生微小的動量，就像風吹進船帆一樣。

Over the next year, researchers studying the spacecraft will work on ways to optimize its operation in hopes of expanding on the success of LightSail 2.

在未來的一年里，研究這艘宇宙飛船的研究人員將致力于優(yōu)化它的運行方式，希望能在“光劍2號”的成功上取得更大的進展。

The implications of successful solar sailing could transform the way we look at space travel and how spacecraft are powered moving forward.

成功的太陽能航行可能會改變我們看待太空旅行的方式，改變宇宙飛船前進的動力。

For now, it could help shift a spacecraft's orbit or allow it hover in place. However, solar sailing could be the key to visiting other planets, terraforming Mars or even going beyond our own solar system in years to come.

目前，它可以幫助改變航天器的軌道，或者讓它在原地盤旋。然而，太陽能航行可能是未來幾年訪問其他行星、改造火星甚至超越我們太陽系的關鍵。

The next application of the solar sail technology will come in 2020 with NASA's Near-Asteroid Scout mission, which will use a solar sail and a miniature satellite to gather information on asteroids traveling close to Earth that could be future destinations for humans.

太陽帆技術的下一次應用將于2020年，屆時美國宇航局(NASA)的近小行星偵察任務(near -小行星Scout mission)將使用太陽帆和一顆微型衛(wèi)星收集近地小行星的信息，這些小行星可能是人類未來的目的地。

Hopefully, NASA's use of the technology and the public momentum behind LightSail 2 will help push this idea to even more transformative level.

希望NASA對這項技術的使用和公眾對“光劍2號”的支持能將這一想法推向更具革命性的水平。

"LightSail 2 proves the power of public support," said Planetary Society COO Jennifer Vaughn. "This moment could mark a paradigm shift that opens up space exploration to more players. It amazes me that 50,000 people came together to fly a solar sail. Imagine if that number became 500,000 or 5 million. It’s a thrilling concept."

行星協(xié)會首席運營官詹妮弗·沃恩說:“《光之劍2》證明了公眾支持的力量。”“這一時刻可能標志著范式的轉變，向更多的玩家開放太空探索。讓我吃驚的是，有5萬人聚集在一起駕駛太陽能帆。想象一下，如果這個數(shù)字變成50萬或500萬。這是一個激動人心的概念。”

Baja California and Mexico are visible on Earth, which serves as a background for LightSail 2 as it utilized its dual 185-degree fisheye camera lenses. (Photo: The Planetary Society)

LightSale 2 recently sent back several images, like the one above, while deploying the sail using the sun's rays.

LightSale 2最近發(fā)回了幾張圖片，就像上面這張一樣，當時它正在利用太陽光展開帆。

It's a visual that inspires hope of what's possible with this technology. Perhaps The Planetary Society's mission to "know the cosmos and our place within it" isn't as far-fetched as we once thought.

它的視覺效果激發(fā)了人們對這項技術的希望。也許行星學會“了解宇宙和我們在宇宙中的位置”的使命并不像我們曾經認為的那樣遙不可及。