There are only two ways humanity can escape collision with an asteroid - by striking the celestial body with nuclear weapons or by changing its trajectory, sending a probe that would fly alongside it. The first measure is considered only as a nuclear option, pun intended, the second one has been calculated only on paper…
人类只有两种办法可以避免小行星撞击——用核武器打击小天体，或者发送一个探测器与之伴飞，改变它的轨道。第一种措施只考虑核选项，双关的是，第二种措施只在纸面上计算过……
Alan Fitzsimmons, professor of mathematics and physics at the Queens University Belfast, has called on astronomers to help space agencies save our planet.
贝尔法斯特皇后大学的数学和物理学教授艾伦·菲茨西蒙斯曾呼吁天文学家帮助航天机构拯救我们的星球。
Vast asteroids that might cause vast destruction avoiding a catastrophic rendezvous with a celestial object. Space agencies call them near-Earth objects. Asteroids and meteors, whose orbits cross that of our planet and which are above 140 meters across are called potentially hazardous objects. Most of them are detected in advance, avoiding a catastrophic rendezvous with a celestial object.
可以导致巨大破坏的大量小行星经常从地球旁边嗖嗖掠过。航天机构称其为近地目标。其轨道与我们星球的轨道交叉并且跨度超过140米的小行星和流星被称为潜在的危险目标。它们中的大多数都可以提前侦测到，然而有时候科学家却无法发现它们。
Professor Fitzsimmons said that in time, a huge asteroid will hit our planet and has called on the public to help NASA’s and ESA’s future missions in learning how to shift celestial bodies’ trajectories and prevent collision.
菲茨西蒙斯教授称，到时候，一颗巨大的小行星将撞击我们的星球，并呼吁公众协助美国航空航天局（NASA）和欧洲航天局（ESA）未来有关研究如何转移小天体的轨道避免撞击的任务。
"We will get a serious asteroid impact sometime”, said Professor Fitzsimmons. “It may not be in our lifetime, but mother nature controls when that will happen. We will need to do something about it. We'll need to move that asteroid so it misses us and doesn't hit us”.
“总有一天我们会遇上一次严重的小行星撞击，”菲茨西蒙斯教授说道，“它可能不会在我们的有生之年发生，但大自然掌控着它何时发生。对此我们将需要做些什么。我们需要移开那个天体，让它错开我们，不会撞上我们。”
DART and Hera
“双小行星重定向测试”（DART）与“赫拉”
NASA and ESA are planning to launch space missions that will assess humanity’s chances of avoiding a catastrophic rendezvous with a celestial object, similar to the one that occurred 66 million years ago and wiped out most life on Earth. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which is expected to be launched in 2021, will crash into a twin asteroid called 65803 Didymos. Didymos, twin in Greek, is the size of the pyramid at Giza and was categorised as a potential hazardous object, which scientists forecast would come close to our planet in 2123. NASA’s DART would crash into the asteroid’s smaller twin dubbed "Didymoon" and the impact from the collision would perturb its orbit. That is when ESA’s Hera mission will take over.
美国航空航天局和欧洲航天局正计划启动太空任务评估人类避免类似于发生在6600万年前消灭了地球上大部分生物的与小天体灾难性会和的机会。美国航空航天局的双小行星重定向测试（DART），预计将于2021年启动，将与一对叫做“65803迪代莫斯”的双小行星相撞。迪代莫斯，在希腊语中有双胞胎的意思，有着吉萨金字塔的尺寸，且被归类为潜在的危险目标，科学家预测它将于2123年接近我们的星球。美国航空航天局的双小行星重定向测试将撞向这对小行星中昵称叫“迪代莫恩”的小胞胎，撞击的影响将打乱其轨道。届时欧洲航天局的“赫拉”任务也将接管。
Hera, which is expected to be launched in 2024, will conduct studies to find out whether the concept of changing an asteroid's trajectory can be used as a defense technique against objects that could pose a danger to our planet.
“赫拉”，预期2024年启动，将实施研究查证改变小行星轨道的概念是否可以用作为一种对抗可以给我们的星球造成危险的目标的防御技术。
How can astronomers help?
天文学家要如何帮忙？
While flying to Didymos Hera would pass one or more celestial bodies that the mission could study. Scientists have identified several potential targets, but they need more observations – the objects’ orbits and properties, to be able to choose one. Studying these bodies "could give clues to their characteristics in advance of Hera's launch in October 2024", Professor Fitzsimmons said.
在飞向“迪代莫斯”期间，“赫拉”将经过一个或多个该任务本可以研究的天体。科学家已确定了几个潜在的目标，但他们需要更多的观察结果——目标的轨道和性质，以便可以选出一个。研究这些天体“可以在2024年10月‘赫拉’启动之前就那些天体的特性给出线索。”菲茨西蒙斯教授说。
"Asteroid research is one area of astronomy where observes continue to make an essential contribution. There are many out there both in Ireland, the UK, Europe and around the world who regularly track asteroids and even measure how their brightness changes with time? That's particularly what we're looking for - these advanced ." Fitzsimmons concluded.
“小行星研究是天文学的一个领域，其观测继续做着必要的贡献。在爱尔兰、英国、欧洲和世界各地，有很多人在定期追踪着小行星甚至测量它们的亮度如何随时间变化？那正是我们要寻找的——这些先进分子。”菲茨西蒙斯总结道。
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