为什么比尔·奈的太阳帆对未来的太空旅行很重要

为什么比尔·奈的太阳帆对未来的太空旅行很重要

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.

利用阳光穿越太空的想法已经有几个世纪的历史了，但是比尔·奈和行星学会是第一个将这一想法变为现实的人。

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

非营利组织行星协会宣布，它的众筹太阳能航行飞船“光剑2号”仅利用太阳光就成功地提升了轨道。

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700万美元的众筹最终成就了这一成就。该航天器于6月25日发射，7月23日启航，预计将在未来一个月继续以这种模式运行。

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.

在更基本的层面上，飞船上闪闪发光的帆反射光子。当光子从帆上反弹时，它们会产生微小的动量，就像风吹进船帆一样。

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.

在未来的一年里，研究这艘宇宙飞船的研究人员将致力于优化它的运行方式，希望能在“光剑2号”的成功上取得更大的进展。

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

成功的太阳能航行可能会改变我们看待太空旅行的方式，改变宇宙飞船前进的动力。

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，它可以帮助改变航天器的轨道，或者让它在原地盘旋。然而，太阳能航行可能是未来几年访问其他行星、改造火星甚至超越我们太阳系的关键。

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.

太阳帆技术的下一次应用将于2020年，届时美国宇航局(NASA)的近小行星侦察任务(near -小行星Scout mission)将使用太阳帆和一颗微型卫星收集近地小行星的信息，这些小行星可能是人类未来的目的地。

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对这项技术的使用和公众对“光剑2号”的支持能将这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."

行星协会首席运营官詹妮弗·沃恩说:“《光之剑2》证明了公众支持的力量。”“这一时刻可能标志着范式的转变，向更多的玩家开放太空探索。让我吃惊的是，有5万人聚集在一起驾驶太阳能帆。想象一下，如果这个数字变成50万或500万。这是一个激动人心的概念。”

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最近发回了几张图片，就像上面这张一样，当时它正在利用太阳光展开帆。

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.

它的视觉效果激发了人们对这项技术的希望。也许行星学会“了解宇宙和我们在宇宙中的位置”的使命并不像我们曾经认为的那样遥不可及。