日本“清理太空垃圾”行动失败 [日本媒体]

Japan's troubled 'space junk' mission fails

日本出了问题的“清理太空垃圾”行动以失败告终

AFP        February 6, 2017

法新社，2月6日报导



An artist's impression of the more than 100 million pieces of debris in orbit around the Earth (AFP Photo/)

想象图：超过一亿个太空垃圾碎片环绕着地球轨道（法新社图片）

Tokyo (AFP) - An experimental Japanese mission to clear 'space junk' or rubbish from the Earth's orbit has ended in failure, officials said Monday, in an embarassment for Tokyo.

东京（法新社）- 本周一，日本官员尴尬的宣布，日本一项实验性质、旨在清理地球轨道上的“太空垃圾”的行动，以失败告终。

Over 100 million pieces of garbage are thought to be whizzing around the planet, including cast-off equipment from old satellites and bits of rocket, which experts say could pose risks for future space exploration.

通常认为地球周围有超过一亿片垃圾，包括旧卫星上遗弃的设备和火箭碎片。专家认为这会对将来的太空探索带来风险。

Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) were trying to test an electrodynamic 'tether' -- created with the help of a fishing net company -- to slow down the orbiting rubbish and bring it into a lower orbit.

日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的科学家试图测试一种电动“缆绳”——由一家渔网公司协助开发——来降低环绕地球的垃圾的速度，把它们带到更低的轨道上。

The hope was that the clutter -- built up after more than five decades of human space exploration -- would eventually enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up harmlessly before it had a chance to crash into the planet.

然后希望这些在过去超过五十年的人类空间探索中形成的混乱，能最终返回地球大气层，并在有机会撞击地球前无害的烧毁。

The 700-metre (2,300-foot) long tether -- made from thin wires of stainless steel and aluminium -- was due to be extended out from a cargo ship launched in December carrying supplies for astronauts at the International Space Station.

这条七百米长的缆绳，由不锈钢和铝制细网构成，预定从一艘去年12月发射的、为国际空间站的宇航员们带去补给的飞船上展开。

Problems arose quickly, however, and technicians tried for days to remedy the situation but only had a one-week window to carry out the mission before the vessel reentered the Earth's atmosphere before dawn on Monday.

然而问题很快出现，技术人员花了几天时间试图修正状况，但是他们只有一周的时间窗口来执行这次行动，之后飞船就要在周一黎明前重返地球大气层了。

"We believe the tether did not get released", leading researcher Koichi Inoue told reporters.

“我们认为缆绳没有展开”，首席研究员Koichi Inoue告诉记者。

"It is certainly disappointing that we ended the mission without completing one of the main objectives," he said.

“这肯定很令人失望，我们只能在还未达成目标的情况下就结束这次任务，”他说。

The disappointment is the latest failure to hit JAXA and comes just weeks after the agency had to abort a mission that sought to use a mini-rocket to send a satellite into orbit.

祸不单行，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构几周前使用一个超小火箭来发射卫星到轨道的计划也流产了。

The agency also abandoned a pricey ultra-high-tech satellite launched in February last year to search for X-rays emanating from black holes and galaxy clusters after losing contact with the spacecraft.

该机构因为宇宙飞行器失联，也放弃了去年2月发射的一枚耗资巨大的超~高科技卫星来搜寻从黑洞和银河星系团中散发出来的X射线的计划。


Speak
I have never seen success without first having failure. This was not an embarrassment, it was just a first attempt with some lessons learned.

我还没见过未经过最初的失败就能成功的例子。这不是一个尴尬，这只是第一次尝试，学到了东西。

Firewalker
Humans are used to leaving junk all over. i drive down the road i see people throwing cups out their windows. its disgusting. So we pollute our lands, seas, waterways, air and even space. Humans are so disgusting. Only a few care about what they do with it. I recycle everything i can.

人类过去到处留下垃圾。在路上开车，就能看到人们从车窗里往外扔纸杯，恶心。我们污染了土地，大海，河流，空气甚至太空。人类实在恶心。只有部分人意识到自己的责任。我尽可能循环利用东西。

B
An embarrassment or learning experience? If we gave up after every failure, we would not have made it to the moon, have airplanes, electricity, etc...

尴尬？还是学到了经验？如果我们每次失败后都放弃，我们不会到达月球，我们不会有飞机，我们不会有电，等等等等。

Insanitarium
I'm not planning on an orbital journey in the near future, but I'd like to be able to go to the goddam beach without fear of being attacked by discarded hypodermics.

我在可预见的未来没有去太空旅行的计划。但是我希望能够在去该死的海滩的时候不用害怕被丢弃的废针管扎到。

JamesS
I hope this is not the end of a worthy goal. Not only could we clean up the atmosphere around the earth but could possibly be a money making mission for entrepreneurs. Recovery of precious metals just one possibility.

我希望这不是这个值得为止奋斗的目标的终结。这不仅仅清理了地球周围的环境，对企业家来说还有可能是一个有利可图的生意。回收贵金属就是一个可能性。

Black Violence Matters
Too bad. I'd like to have seen it snag some debris.

真可惜。我还希望能看到它抓住一些碎片呢。

norman
It sounds like a good idea, hopefully they make another try.
And the worry isn't that it will crash into the planet, but into working satellites, or endanger astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts....

这看上去是一个好主意，希望他们还会继续。
危险不在于它们会坠落回地球，而是危及工作中的卫星，并给美国、俄国和日本的宇航员带来威胁...

Richard
When you are working on the leading edge of technology, you have to expect failures to find out what works and then what works best. All of the tinkering will produce lots of knowledge that can be referenced in a book and save millions in research.

当你在科技前沿工作的时候，你必须经过失败才能找出什么是行得通的，然后才知道什么是最佳选择。所有这些修修补补，会带来新的知识，可以被记录下来，并在以后的研究中节省下大量的金钱。

steve
The space junk in that picture is magnified a thousands times its real size. To see the earth from that far back you wouldn't see the junk.

配图中的太空垃圾，与真实尺寸相比被放大了几千倍。真从图中那个角度看地球，实际上你看不到太空垃圾。

JRHowosso
I'd rather see them "net" the trash islands in the earths oceans........

我更希望看到他们能“网”住地球上海洋中的那些垃圾山......