俄潜艇首发太阳反射器进入轨道

First Solar Sail to be Launched into Orbit from Russian Submarine

俄潜艇首发太阳反射器进入轨道

 

A solar sail might do for space missions what fabric¹ sails once did for sea travel. It would use free, natural energy to move a craft across distances in the heavens not now possible, partly because of limits to the amount of heavy fuel that can be carried.

 

Louis Friedman: It's the only known technology that can lead us to interstellar flight, to the stars.

 

This is Louis Friedman, the president of a private U.S. space advocacy group called the Planetary Society.

 

The group is working to fly Cosmos² 1 with the Lavochkin Association, one of Russia's largest aerospace³ companies, and the Space Research Institute in Russia.

 

Louis Friedman: It gets all of its propulsive⁴ energy from the sun. The sunlight photons, the energy of sunlight or light beams, is what propels the spacecraft. So it's something that you can travel both through our own planetary system, maybe to other planetary systems, without any fuel.

 

Photons are light particles that would hit the sail and push it with a minuscule⁵ force, causing it to accelerate slowly.

 

Cosmos 1 is actually made up of eight sails shaped as triangles. They are to be deployed⁶ from the Russian submarine on a converted nuclear missile. After reaching Earth orbit, inflatable tubes are to open the sails, which are configured like giant windmill blades. The blades can be turned to reflect sunlight in different directions, allowing the complex to change direction.

 

A U.S. space agency scientist developing solar sail technology, Keith Belvin, says advances in lightweight materials have made such a spacecraft possible only in the past decade, although they have been envisioned since the 19th century.

 

Keith Belvin: To make a solar sail work, it has to be extremely lightweight, about 10 grams per square meter or less. So we've been developing very thin space durable⁷ films over the past few years. These lightweight membranes⁸ enable us to reflect the sun's light and to capture that momentum⁹ coming from the sun's light.

 

Planetary Society president Louis Friedman says the Cosmos 1 mission could last several weeks or even months.

 

But will a solar sail really work? One prominent scientist has scoffed¹¹ at the idea, saying it contradicts the laws of thermal¹² physics. The late Thomas Gold of Cornell University said solar sails are designed to be perfect mirrors, reflecting all the light that hits them. However, this would mean no heat would be transferred to the sails. Before his death last year, Professor Gold told VOA that all work involves some heat exchange, and without it, no work can occur.

 

Gold: It's as if you had an automobile¹³ without a radiator¹⁴. It wouldn't work. There would be no way of losing heat, you see. The mirror has no way of losing heat. So it directly conflicts with the laws that control the obtaining of mechanical energy from heat. The sun is just a heat source, of course, so therefore the solar sail cannot work.

 

But both Louis Friedman and U.S. space agency scientist Keith Belvin reject Thomas Gold's assertion, saying it is based only on the 19th century theories of the thermodynamics of heat engines. They say solar propulsion has worked in small communication reflectors put into the upper atmosphere in the 1960s and for the positioning of U.S. spacecraft since then. Again Keith Belvin.

 

Belvin: We've actually used it on a few spacecraft where we trim the space craft. Sometimes the attitude control is not proper and we'll rotate a solar array to get the right propulsive force from the sun's light to actually trim the spacecraft. So it's already been demonstrated in space. It's not of concern for us.

 

Space agencies around the world will be watching the Cosmos 1 test flight to see what they can learn from it.

 

Louis Friedman compares it to the first flight of an aircraft by the Wright brothers in 1903.

 

Friedman: If we can prove the concept and advance the technology that way, it will be a great boost. We hope to succeed.

 

David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.

 

注释：

orbit [5C:bit] n. 轨道

submarine [5sQbmEri:n] n. 潜水艇

interstellar [5intE(:)5stelE] adj. 星际的

cosmos [5kCzmCs] n.宇宙

aerospace [5ZErEuspeis] n. 航空宇宙

planetary [5plAnitri] n. 行星的

photon [5fEutCn] n. 光子

minuscule [mi5nQskju:l] adj. 极小的

accelerate [Ak5selEreit] v. 加速

triangle [5traiAN^l] n. 三角形

missile [5misail] n. 导弹

inflatable [in5fleitEbl] adj. 膨胀的

windmill [5windmil] n. 风车

blade [bleid] n. 浆叶

envision [in5viVEn] vt. 想象

momentum [mEu5mentEm] n. 动力

prominent [5prCminEnt] adj. 卓越的

scoff¹⁰ [skCf] v. 嘲笑

thermodynamics [5WE:mEudai5nAmiks] n. 热力

propulsive force 推进力

1 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

2 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

3 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

4 propulsive   

adj.推进的

参考例句：

• The fish uses its tail fins for propulsive force throgh the water.鱼靠尾鳍在水中前进。
• Interest in jet propulsive force was now growing at the Air Ministry.航空部对喷气推进的兴趣正在增加。

5 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

8 membranes   

n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物

参考例句：

• The waste material is placed in cells with permeable membranes. 废液置于有渗透膜的槽中。 来自辞典例句
• The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a system of intracellular membranes. 肌浆网属于细胞内膜系统。 来自辞典例句

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

10 scoff   

n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• You are not supposed to scoff at religion.你不该嘲弄宗教。
• He was the scoff of the town.他成为全城的笑柄。

11 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

12 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

13 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

14 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。