Space debris Junk hunting

搜寻太空垃圾

A new satellite will test ways to capture detritus circling Earth
**新卫星将测试解决环绕地球太空垃圾的新途径 **

THERE is an awful lot of junk in space. The latest data from the European Space Agency suggest some 7,500 tonnes of it now orbits Earth. It ranges from defunct satellites and rocket parts to nuts, bolts, shards of metal and even flecks of paint. But something as small as a paint fleck can still do serious damage if it hits a working satellite at a speed of several thousand kilometres an hour. There have already been more than 290 collisions, break-ups and explosions in space. Given the likelihood that thousands of small satellites, some only a few centimetres across, will be launched over the next decade, many worry that large volumes of space near Earth will soon be rendered risky places for satellites (especially big, expensive ones) to be.

在太空中存在大量的太空垃圾。来自欧空局的最新数据显示大约有 7500 吨太空垃圾正环绕地球。这些太空垃圾包括失效的卫星，从火箭碎片到螺母、螺栓、金属碎片甚至还有画的碎片。但是诸如画的碎片这些小物体由于其以数千公里每小时的速度飞行，在击中在轨工作的卫星时仍可以对其造成严重破坏。目前在太空中已经发生了超过 290 起的碰撞、破裂以及爆炸。考虑到在下一个十年将会有数千颗只有几厘米大小的卫星上天，许多人担心近地球的外太空将会变成对于卫星而言（特别是大型、昂贵的卫星）非常卫星的环境。

What is needed, then, is a clean-up. Various ideas about how to do this have been proposed, and some are about to be put to the test. In February a resupply mission to the International Space Station will also carry a satellite, about the size of a domestic washing machine, called Remove DEBRIS. Once this has been unpacked and prepared by the station’s crew, they will use a robotic manipulator to send it on its way into orbit around Earth.

因此，我们所需要的就是清理活动。针对如何处理这个问题，人们提出了许多方案，其中一些已经即将开展实验。在二月份为国际空间站进行补给任务时将会搭载一颗卫星，其大小大约是一台家用洗衣机，被称为垃圾清理器。当空间站的人员完成组装和准备工作后，他们将会使用机械臂将其送入环绕地球运行轨道。

Remove DEBRIS has been designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology, a British manufacturer of small satellites spun out of the University of Surrey in 1985, which is now majority-owned by Airbus. Mission Control for the Remove DEBRIS project is the Surrey Space Centre at the university. The plan is for Remove DEBRIS to carry out four experiments. The first two will involve launching from it a pair of CubeSats (mini-satellites 10cm across). These will play the role of space junk.

垃圾清理器由 Surrey Satellite Technology 设计建造，这是一家于 1985 年脱胎于 Surrey 大学的英国小型微型工厂，目前其所有者为空客公司。此项垃圾清理工程的任务控制中心位于大学的空间中心。任务包括四个试验组件。首先两个将会发射一对立方体卫星（10 厘米的小卫星）。他们将会扮演太空垃圾的角色。

Once launched, the first CubeSat will inflate a balloonlike structure a metre across, to which it will remain attached, in order to create a bigger target. The mother ship will then approach to a distance of seven metres and fire a net at the balloon. This net is designed to unfurl and warp itself around the target. Once the target is entangled, a cable connecting the net to the mother ship will be tightened, closing the neck of the net. It will then be hauled in, like catching fish.

发射后，第一个立方体卫星将会膨胀成大约一立方米大小的气球状，同时仍然保持连接状态来创造一个更大的目标。母卫星将会接触到距离其七米左右的位置然后对气球发射一个网。这个网设计用于展开后将目标包裹起来。当目标被套住后，网上连接着母卫星的缆线将会收紧，将网的口子收紧，然后将其拉过来，就像钓鱼一样。