Ohhh a space artifact!

哇噢！一架宇宙飛行器！

I wonder what it is!

好想知道那是什麼！

In the big, scary abyss of space, it can get pretty lonely.

在廣闊無邊、令人懼怕的太空深淵，可能會讓人感到很寂寞。

The planet Earth knows that all too well.

地球非常能理解這種心情。

Venus, which is the closest planet to Earth, is still millions and millions of kilometers away from the human homeworld, even when they're closer together in their orbits.

就連軌跡最接近的時候，離地球最近的金星也離我們好幾百萬公里遠。

That's why it's good to have some closer friends around you, you know, to keep you company.

這就是為什麼身邊有幾位較親近的朋友很棒，才有人作伴。

Thankfully, the Earth has satellites — and quite a lot of them.

令人慶幸的是，地球擁有衛星—很多顆衛星。

When you think of a satellite, you're probably mainly thinking of human-made technology.

想到「衛星」，你八成會想到人類的科技產物。

But NASA actually defines one as any moon, planet, or machine that orbits a star or another planet.

但美國太空總署 (NASA) 將其定義成繞著恆星或其他行星旋轉的任何衛星、行星，或機器。

Not only does that mean that the Moon is a satellite of Earth, but also that the Earth is a satellite of the Sun.

這不僅意味著月球是地球的一顆衛星，也代表地球是太陽的衛星。

These are both examples of natural satellites.

這兩個都是自然衛星的實例。

Of course, we also have artificial satellites that were put up there by you humans.

當然太空中也有你們人類放上去的人造衛星。

These officially became a thing around the middle of the 20th century with the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik I.

大約在 20 世紀中期，當蘇聯成功發射史普尼克一號，人造衛星發展從此上了軌道。

Fast-forward to now and there are thousands of artificial satellites up there orbiting Earth.

快轉到今天，有上千個人造衛星繞著地球轉。

And the things have gotten pretty darn impressive!

而一切發展令人非常驚嘆！

For example, they can take pictures of other planets and celestial bodies, or turn their eyes back on Earth to help predict weather or track storms and wildfires.

例如衛星能夠拍下其他行星與天體的照片，或者回頭關注地球，幫助預測天氣，或監控暴風雨和森林大火。

They can even measure atmospheric gases, like ozone and carbon dioxide.

人造衛星甚至能量測大氣中的氣體，像是臭氧和二氧化碳。

And satellites can also play a role in allowing you to make phone calls and letting you watch your favorite TV shows.

並且有了衛星你才能打電話、收看最愛的電視節目。

But they can also take photos of other planets!

人造衛星也可以拍下其他星球的照片！

Guys?

大家覺得？

They are stuck watching their shows.

他們忙著看自己的電視。

Not to mention how impressive the International Space Station is, which comes in at about the size of a football field and weighs about as much as a few hundred cars.

更不用說國際太空站有多棒，它約略是足球場的尺寸，重量則約相當於幾百台汽車。

Ok, now we've enticed the space strongmen.

這下我們催生出宇宙強人了。

Put the thing down, ok?

把那東西放下好嗎？

You're gonna knock it out of orbit!

你會把它撞出軌道！

But it's not just big space stations that are great feats of humanity.

但不是只有巨大的太空站才算是人類的偉大功績。

Going smaller is equally impressive.

做得精巧也很厲害。

Just like you've seen smaller and smaller technology down on Earth, the miniaturization of computers and hardware has made its way to satellites.

就像你在地球上看到越來越小巧的科技，微型電腦和硬體也被應用到人造衛星。

With NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, a bunch of super small satellites are being put up into orbit.

NASA 的 CubeSat 發射計畫將一堆微型人造衛星送上軌道。

Called CubeSats, these nanosatellites are roughly 10 by 10 by 10 centimeter cubes that tend to weigh a little over a kilogram.

這些超小型衛星叫「方塊衛星」，大概是長寬高十公分的立方體，重量一公斤多一點。

They allow you to test out new technologies — like the RainCube, a miniaturized precipitation-studying radar instrument — in the real-life harsh environment of space before being used in more advanced missions.

它們協助在真實而具挑戰性的環境裡測試各式新科技，接著再應用於更進階的任務，比如「雨滴方塊」，它是袖珍版的降雨雷達儀器。

And if you want to see the view from space yourself, NASA's High Definition Earth Viewing, or HDEV, experiment became operational back in 2014.

而如果你想親自看看太空景色，NASA 有高解析度的「觀賞地球」實驗，從 2014 年起實施。

This initiative put commercially available HD cameras on the exterior of the ISS so that they could stream live footage of the Earth that you can view right from your computer.

該計畫將商業用途的 HD 相機放在國際太空站外頭，因此能即時串流地球的攝錄影像，從你的電腦就能觀看。

Imagine going back in time and telling a group of people from the 1940's that all of this is going to be possible!

試著想像回到過去，告訴 1940 年代的人們這一切如何發展會有多不可思議！

You get to experience all of this right now!

你現在就能體驗到這一切！

Oh man, satellites sure are pretty cool!

噢，人造衛星真的很酷！

Now if we can just get them to shoot down space lasers for when those evil underground bugs attack.

如果我們能讓衛星發射太空雷射，擊潰那些邪惡的地底蟲蟲多好。

If you wanna capture stunning photos of space, you need to send up a powerful satellite.

如果想捕捉令人驚嘆的宇宙照片，你需要發射強大的衛星。

So do you have any space related space questions that you wanna ask?

有任何關於太空的問題想問嗎？

Let me know in the comment section below and we might turn your question into a future video!

請在下方留言，之後我們可能會為你的問題做一部影片！

As always my name is Blocko!

不免俗地介紹一下，我叫 Blocko!

This has been Life Noggin!

你收看的是 Life Noggin!

Don't forget to keep on thinking.

別忘了要持續思考喔！