Name: 國際太空站即將墜回地球？(The ISS Will Crash to Earth Soon, But Why?)
Uploaded: 2022-09-04T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 3 min 42 s

After over 20 years in orbit, our beloved International Space Station is set to retire in 2030.

在軌道上運行了20多年後，我們心愛的國際太空站即將在2030年退役。

But remember please don’t shoot the messenger here!

Like its epic debut, the ISS’s final performance will be just as mind-blowing.

與其史詩般的首次亮相一樣，國際太空站的最後一場表演也同樣將令人驚呼連連。

So how exactly do you decommission a football-field-sized structure without hitting anything?

那麼，究竟要如何在不撞到任何東西的情況下拆除一個足球場大小的物體呢？

But before we get to that, I know you must all be wondering why NASA and its partners decided to decommission the ISS now.

但在這之前，我知道你們一定都在想，為什麼美國宇航局和其合作伙伴決定現在讓國際太空站退役。

Well, the ISS is starting to show its age.

嗯……國際太空站也日趨老舊了。

It’s been in a constant state of operation since November, 2000.

自2000年11月以來，它一直處於持續運行的狀態。

It orbits the Earth every 90 minutes traveling at 8 km per second, and has hosted over 3000 research investigations from 108 countries.

它以每秒8公里的速度，每90分鐘繞地球一圈，並且已經接受了來自108個國家的3000多次研究調查。

Not to mention it’s in one of the most dangerous environments known to humankind, in constant danger of being struck by debris!

更不用說它位於人類已知最危險的環境之一，不斷處在被碎片擊中的危險裡!

Based on evaluations, the ISS is expected to continue operations until 2028.

據評估，國際太空站預計將繼續營運到2028年。

Some major reasons for retirement were the operational cost, which is roughly 4 billion dollars per year, and limited onboard capabilities.

退役的一些主要原因是每年大約40億美元的運營成本，以及有限的機載能力。

On top of that, the ISS requires multiple reboost maneuvers each year to keep it from crashing back down to Earth.

除此之外，國際太空站每年都需要進行多次的增壓操作，以免其墜回地球。

So in 2030, when it’s finally time to decommission the ISS, why can’t we let it just float out in space forever?

那麼到2030年，當國際太空站終於退役的時候，我們為什麼不能讓它永遠漂浮在太空中就好了呢？

Well there’s a long list of reasons we don’t want that.

我們不希望這樣做的原因有一長串。

One of them is because of the Kessler Syndrome, which is the concept that even the smallest fragment of space debris traveling at speeds up to 28 million kilometers per hour can be a catalyst to a much larger chain reaction.

其中之一是因為凱斯勒現象，也就是即便最小的太空碎片，也能以每小時高達2800萬公里的速度飛行，它可能是一種更大的連鎖反應的催化劑。

But luckily, engineers have a plan to avoid that catastrophic domino effect by harnessing the Earth’s gravitational pull.

但幸運的是，工程師們有一個計劃來避免這種災難性的多米諾骨牌效應，也就是利用地球的引力。

By slowly reducing the operational altitude of the ISS over several years, engineers will strategically position its reentry point over a region known as the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area, aka, where satellites go to die.

通過在幾年內慢慢降低國際太空站的運行高度，工程師計畫將折返點定在一個被稱為南太平洋的無人居住區上，也就是說，衛星最終會在此結束其一生。

Known as Point Nemo, this area in the Pacific Ocean is quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

太平洋上被稱為 「尼莫點 」的這一地區，真的是在茫茫荒蕪的中間。

Believe it or not, the closest humans to Point Nemo are the crew members of the ISS right now!

信不信由你，離尼莫點最近的人類是現在在國際太空站內的工作人員！

But the entire satellite will not crash into the ocean, in fact, experts expect most of the station to burn up in the atmosphere during reentry, with only select parts making it to Point Nemo.

但衛星不會整個墜入海洋，事實上，專家預計太空站大部分會在重返大氣層時被燒毀，只有特定部分會落入尼莫點。

And this location is optimal because it's within the South Pacific Gyre, a large system of rotating ocean currents that keeps this region fairly absent of oceanic life, in case anyone was concerned about any sea life.

而這是最佳的位置，因為它在南太平洋環流內，而一個巨大的旋轉洋流系統讓這一海域沒什麼生物，以防有人會擔心海洋生物。

但是，國際太空站不會孤零零的!

It will join over 250 others dating back to NASA’s Skylab in 1979 and Russia’s MIR Space Station in 2001.

它將和其他250多個太空站作伴，這些可以追溯到1979年美國宇航局的 「天空實驗室 」和俄羅斯的「MIR」。

This is the start of a new era for space exploration and crewed missions beyond the Earth’s orbit.

這是太空探索和地球軌道外，載人任務的全新時代的開始。

NASA hopes to maintain operations in low Earth orbit by introducing a new private space station before the ISS retires.

NASA希望在國際太空站退役之前，通過引入新的私人太空站來維持低地球軌道的運作。

In early 2021, NASA selected three companies, Blue Origin, Nanoracks LLC, and Northrop Grumman, to develop the next generation of commercial space stations.

2021年初，美國宇航局選擇了三家公司：藍色起源、納米艙和諾斯洛普格拉曼來開發下一代的商用太空站。

Nanoracks currently has their sights set on 2027 as the first flight of Starlab, their new commercial space station.

納米艙目前將目光放在2027年作為Starlab──他們新的商用太空站，的首次飛行。

As for the ISS, the world is deeply saddened to see what some would call their first experience with human space travel.

至於國際太空站，有些人會稱是人類太空旅行的第一次體驗，而全世界都感到很難過。

But all good things come to an end no matter how bitter-sweet.

但天下无不散之宴席，無論感到多麽五味雜陳。

And with other projects not too far behind, it seems like we’re already headed toward continuing the legacy of the ISS by going even further than we’ve ever been before.

隨著其他項目也在如火如荼的進行，我們也比以前發展地更遠，並似乎正以此傳承著國際太空站的精神。

So what was your favorite thing about the ISS?

關於國際太空站，你最喜歡什麼呢？

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