為什麼網上會有很多人不贊同探月工程?真的是弊大於利么?

中國的探月工程為什麼會被人說成無用?難道不是一件非常偉大的工程么?探月工程的意義在哪?


目光短淺,不值得一駁!

因為探月是一個浩大的工程,帶動了各種科學研究的發展,你要想登月,各種技術都需要攻關,各種數據需要自己收集和整理,在積累技術和經驗的過程中,就是解決問題和發現新問題的過程,比如帶動了材料學、能源學、生命科學、測量學、天體物理學、智能化等等的研究,豐富了各學科的基礎和前言,這並非是錢的問題,而是一個高新技術的比拼。各國都在競爭,地球已經被瓜分得差不多了,現在就是深入宇宙星際,未來的出路在太空。

人家上世紀60年代就開始登月了,中國很大,但是技術跟不上,看著人家登月唄,只有科學發展了,國家強大了,才能讓自己的人才發揮專長,讓自己國家的技術跟上國際的步伐。

我們的征途是星辰大海。「500年前,我們抱怨祖先放棄了大海。500年後,不能讓我們的子孫抱怨我們放棄了星辰」..……

我們的征途是星辰大海

21世紀經濟報道 張立偉 2013-12-17 00:31:12


核心提示: 擁有十三億人口的國家,若要持續發展,能源與礦產需求都將遭遇挑戰,而開發月球將是未來解決這些困難的一條必經之路。
隨著中國的嫦娥三號著陸器成功降落月球,月球車隨後也安全釋放並抵達月面,兩者以相互拍照的方式向世界證明,中國成為繼前蘇聯、美國之後第三個實現月球軟著陸國家。儘管幾十年前美蘇早已實現成功探月,但不會削弱中國此次成功的意義。

人類的探測器已經有37年再也沒有重登月面,在1958年至1976年冷戰期間,美國和前蘇聯曾展開一場以月球探測為中心的空間科學技術競賽,儘管具有強烈的政治目的,但美國成功的太空項目也催生許多高科技技術,成為1990年代以來主導美國新經濟甚至全球化的主要力量,比如互聯網、移動通訊等。

中國的太空計划起步較晚,這也是由國力所限制。中國吸取了前蘇聯因過度投入太空與軍事競賽且忽略了經濟發展的教訓,力所能及地推進自己的太空項目。中國技術追趕比較紮實,從神舟飛船系列、到天宮實驗艙再到嫦娥探月工程,通過循序漸進的累積經驗與技術,並創造了一個驚人的記錄,這些工程全部獲得成功。以探月為例,在人類迄今一共探月129次的成功率僅51%,這無疑凸顯了中國人的成就。

在西方一些輿論看來,中國的技術仍然重複西方几十年前的水平,並沒有帶來人類宇航技術的突破。他們習慣性貶低中國這類太空活動是為了其象徵意義,即製造民族自豪感並向其他國家炫耀實力。這些觀點顯然有些自欺欺人,因為西方的技術在停滯不前,中國則在追趕,在如此複雜的太空探索系統當中,中國不可能冒險跨越,最好的辦法就是「龜兔賽跑」。

事實上,中國當前使用的技術與幾十年前已經截然不同,中國在吸取了美蘇大量失敗教訓的基礎上,通過獨立開發,以更先進的技術實現了自己的目標。儘管西方輿論充滿了酸味,但科學家應該清楚中國技術的實力。歐洲越來越多的國家和機構急切地想與中國進行太空合作,美國這樣的聲音也越來越大。

是的,當嫦娥三號在月球上面行走的畫面在電視台播放後,雖然沒有幾十年前人類登月讓人震撼,但也足以讓中國人感到自豪。因為這個民族清楚自己是在追趕,而幾十年前還是一個貧窮的國家。這些成就讓中國人深信這個古老的民族「也能做到」,這會激勵越來越多的年輕人投身於科技事業,中國的一系列太空項目執行者大部分是年輕人,這是一個讓人震撼的事實。

很多人不理解為何在貧窮人口還比較多的時候將資金投入到太空項目。這顯然與中國的農業社會思維有關,即更重視眼前的實際利益,而忽略戰略性布局。太空探測工程所積累的技術必定在一定階段會有所突破並實現民用化,不應過於計較眼前得失,作為一個大國,中國也不應該停止向宇宙進發,必須對人類的文明與進步作出自己的貢獻。

擁有十三億人口的國家,若要持續發展,能源與礦產需求都將遭遇挑戰,而開發月球將是未來解決這些困難的一條必經之路。中國必須做好進入太空時代的準備,不能在太空時代來臨之時落在別國的後面,就像有網友所說,「500年前,我們抱怨祖先放棄了大海。500年後,不能讓我們的子孫抱怨我們放棄了星辰」。

整理:信札君
微信平台:紅楓葉信札(公眾號:Hqw7520283),一個關注和分享科學、思想、文化、閱讀和互聯網的新銳自媒體。


確實 很多決策是正和的。
也有一些決策是零和的。
甚至有一些決策是負和的。

但是有些決策對某些人來說,永遠是負效應。


如何更加客觀的看待一個問題?
私以為是,至少不能單純的看到一個政策是「好」還是「不好」

而是看這個東西,
就效果來看:
損害了誰的利益,讓誰受益了。以及,如果視角高一點,社會整體福利如何。

就手段來看,是否違背了誰的意願而支配其財產了?
支出財產的人是否享受到了對應的收益?
等。

是,肯定是有蠢人的。這點毫無疑問。
短視,這個需要教育慢慢改變,急不來。

但是也同樣有理性考慮確實對他本身不利的情況,所以反對的。
一個極端的例子就是
行將就木的老光棍,你讓他從全人類的角度考慮然後出錢探月。再歌頌一下他多高尚,未免就有欺人太甚。。。

所以如果把錢花在探月而不是改善民生的話,必須承認這是損害某些人的利益的——預期利益。或者說,有毫不相干的人,為了這件事付出了機會成本而沒有從中獲得應得利益的可能性。
這部分人一定是反對探月的。這很合理。


如果是一個探月相關工作人員支持探月。並且——有很大可能性,探月力度加強會導致其收入水漲船高。那你是絕對說服不了市井百姓的。

以上兩點,就是所謂的【利益相關】


此外,在福利經濟學領域有個叫做帕累托改進的概念,也是很多人用來反對天文項目巨款的一個依據。
他們大抵是這樣說的:

帕累托改進是可以增進社會整體福利的,其表述如右:在沒有使任何人境況變壞的前提下,使得至少一個人變得更好。
如果有一個人差10元人民幣救命,而探月工程拿出10元人民幣來支援這個人的話,本身沒有什麼影響。那麼這個改進就是有利於社會整體福利的提升的。也就是說,從某種角度來講,探月工程可以出錢干點別的。

但是這樣解釋是流氓的。
一個國家型的財政政策問題不應該和一個個人的饑寒對等(「一個人就是整個國家」這樣的事情僅僅發生在孟德斯鳩的腦海里)


而且這樣的個體是普遍存在的——我是指現階段生活還沒小康的家庭——那個等錢用的人的想法是不會考慮整個國家或者全人類如何的,他只能考慮自己,和自己的家庭。
這是合理的。
因為如上面我們所說,國家級別的財政政策也不考慮他。這是一種對等的蔑視。
這樣的人(請允許我稱呼這樣的人為D類人,僅僅是為了好指代)不會支持探月。

所以另外的問題就來了。
探月的資金來源!
因為是公權力對公共財政的支配,所以探月的錢,過分一點說,是沒有明確產權的。


所以本來僅僅是「不支持」探月項目的D類人就會覺得,這錢給我就更妙了
面對沒有明確產權的東西,佔有是第一慾望。於是他們不是堅決反對,是比較反對,這裡的比較是指,他們在諸選擇傾向(比如和扶貧對比)裡面認為,探月可能是對自己比較不利的選項。
這樣的並不能單純看作短視。而是選擇的方式不同。
因為如果國家用所有經費達到了有效的扶貧效果,那麼將會有更高額的稅收的預期以更加方便的進行高昂花銷的項目。頗有點磨刀不誤砍柴工的意思。


然後談一談收益(此處收益當然包括收益和損失)。
這項目收益第一個肯定是相關工作人員——我並不是暗指前些天鬧得沸沸揚揚的學術腐敗問題,但是這些人最起碼不會失業了不是么。不要把收益都想灰色了。。。

還有一點,所有人都知道天文會帶來技術進步,但是不能把所有人都默認支持技術進步。
為什麼?就是因為有人會因為技術進步受損。
手機的出現讓大批電報局的工作人員和郵遞員失業。嚴重損害了郵局的業務。
這批人是處於自己的利益考慮反對的。
對比上面以個就業一個失業。。。唉


此外,很重要的一個問題。
帶來的收益以何種方式分配?
探月成果的收益會沒人多少錢平均分給老百姓么?從汽油價格看來,不會的。
大部分人還是要自己掏錢買。
於是就有個問題。
我納稅支持某項工程,然後有了好處你們在讓我出錢買。
那乾脆一拍兩散。該幹嘛幹嘛去。


我可以肯定的說,一群明智的人,能自由支配自己的財富的時候,甚至可能 會反對石油勘探。
這和蠢有什麼關係。。。這是真人精。


所以大家不能把技術進步看成先天的價值取向。
同樣不能把全人類啊,全中國看成一個利益整體。

為什麼清朝的很多讀書人反對洋務運動?
佃戶都去打工地主家的地誰種啊。
現實,就是這樣。

附錄:
這話題再展開,其實可以談一談公共政策的問題。
如果不花公家錢,那麼問題會簡單很多很多。

在著名科幻作家弗諾文奇的小說《彩虹盡頭》裡面說
能拖垮整個國家的金融項目已經不存在了,只要你能 騙過市場。

納稅不如募資。
募集資金股票分紅才是正道。
眾籌唄。
那麼多人熱愛航天航空,那麼多人支持探月,我一直覺得這樣的偏好非常高尚!

犯不上擔著罵名損害別人的短時利益去搞。
自己捐錢是最好的。以後的收益也分紅而不外流。
清清楚楚的產權關係。
相關工作人員入人力股,不領工資或低工資。以後分紅抵償。

另外再開設,「我要捐錢,不需要探月工程為我做什麼」這類的帳戶(從星雲獎眾籌學到的。)

搞自己的探月,讓傻逼們傻逼去吧。
那些人是解釋不通的。


有這種問題我覺得挺正常的,我身邊有的長輩問過我,而且不止中國人問過,外國人在40年以前也問過,當時就有了很好的回答,我覺得完全足夠回答這個問題。

沒有找到合適的引用來源,就引用Quora上問題When there are so many problems here on earth, should so much money be spent on manned space exploration?中得票最高的回答。

裡面都是英文,為了方便大家,再貼一個翻譯過來的版本:Why Explore Space? 為什麼要探索宇宙(略長)

免點擊轉載如下:

In 1970, a Zambia-based nun named Sister Mary Jucunda wrote to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, then-associate director of science at NASA"s Marshall Space Flight Center, in response to his ongoing research into a piloted mission toMars. Specifically, she asked how he could suggest spending billions of dollars on such a project at a time when so many children were starving on Earth.

1970年,尚比亞修女 Mary Jucunda 給 Ernst Stuhlinger 博士寫了一封信,他因在火星之旅工程中的原創性研究,成為NASA(美國航空航天局)Marshall 太空航行中心的科學副總監。信中,Mary Jucunda修女問道:目前地球上還有這麼多小孩子吃不上飯,他怎麼能捨得為遠在火星的項目花費數十億美元。

Stuhlinger soon sent the following letter of explanation to Sister Jucunda, along with a copy of "Earthrise," the iconic photograph of Earth taken in 1968 by astronaut William Anders, from the Moon (also embedded in the transcript). His thoughtful reply was later published by NASA, and titled, "Why Explore Space?"
Stuhlinger 很快給 Jucunda 修女回了信,同時還附帶了一張題為「升起的地球」的照片,這張標誌性的照片是宇航員William Anders 於1968年 在月球軌道上拍攝的(照片中可以看到月球的地面)。他這封真摯的回信隨後由NASA以《為什麼要探索宇宙》為標題發表。

May 6, 1970
1970年5月6日

Dear Sister Mary Jucunda:
親愛的 Mary Jucunda 修女:

Your letter was one of many which are reaching me every day, but it has touched me more deeply than all the others because it came so much from the depths of a searching mind and a compassionate heart. I will try to answer your question as best as I possibly can.

每天,我都會收到很多類似的來信,但這封對我的觸動最深,因為它來自一顆慈悲的飽含探求精神的心靈 。我會盡自己所能來回答你這個問題。

First, however, I would like to express my great admiration for you, and for all your many brave sisters, because you are dedicating your lives to the noblest cause of man: help for his fellowmen who are in need.

首先,請允許我向你以及你勇敢的姐妹們表達深深的敬意,你們獻身於人類最崇高的事業:幫助身處困境的同胞。

You asked in your letter how I could suggest the expenditures of billions of dollars for a voyage to Mars, at a time when many children on this Earth are starving to death. I know that you do not expect an answer such as "Oh, I did not know that there are children dying from hunger, but from now on I will desist from any kind of space research until mankind has solved that problem!" In fact, I have known of famined children long before I knew that a voyage to the planet Mars is technically feasible. However, I believe, like many of my friends, that travelling to the Moon and eventually to Mars and to other planets is a venture which we should undertake now, and I even believe that this project, in the long run, will contribute more to the solution of these grave problems we are facing here on Earth than many other potential projects of help which are debated and discussed year after year, and which are so extremely slow in yielding tangible results.

在來信中,你問我在目前地球上還有兒童由於飢餓面臨死亡威脅的情況下,為什麼還要花費數十億美元來進行飛向火星的航行。 我清楚你肯定不希望這樣的答案:「哦,我之前不知道還有小孩子快餓死了,好吧,從現在開始,暫停所有的太空項目,直到孩子們都吃上飯再說。」事實上,早在了解火星之旅的技術之前,我已經對兒童的饑荒問題有所了解。而且,同我很多朋友的看法一樣,我認為此時此刻,我們就應該開始通往月球、火星乃至其他行星的偉大探險。從長遠來看,相對於那些要麼只有年復一年的辯論和爭吵,要麼連妥協之後也遲遲無法落實的各種援助計劃來說,我甚至覺得探索太空的工程給更有助於解決人類目前所面臨的種種危機。

Before trying to describe in more detail how our space program is contributing to the solution of our Earthly problems, I would like to relate briefly a supposedly true story, which may help support the argument. About 400 years ago, there lived a count in a small town in Germany. He was one of the benign counts, and he gave a large part of his income to the poor in his town. This was much appreciated, because poverty was abundant during medieval times, and there were epidemics of the plague which ravaged the country frequently. One day, the count met a strange man. He had a workbench and little laboratory in his house, and he labored hard during the daytime so that he could afford a few hours every evening to work in his laboratory. He ground small lenses from pieces of glass; he mounted the lenses in tubes, and he used these gadgets to look at very small objects. The count was particularly fascinated by the tiny creatures that could be observed with the strong magnification, and which he had never seen before. He invited the man to move with his laboratory to the castle, to become a member of the count"s household, and to devote henceforth all his time to the development and perfection of his optical gadgets as a special employee of the count.

在詳細說明我們的太空項目如何幫助解決地面上的危機之前,我想先簡短講一個真實的故事。那是在400年前,德國某小鎮里有一位伯爵。他是個心地善良的人,他將自己收入的一大部分捐給了鎮子上的窮人。這十分令人欽佩,因為中世紀時窮人很多,而且那時經常爆發席捲全國的瘟疫。一天,伯爵碰到了一個奇怪的人,他家中有一個工作台和一個小實驗室,他白天賣力工作,每天晚上的幾小時的時間專心進行研究。他把小玻璃片研磨成鏡片,然後把研磨好的鏡片裝到鏡筒里,用此來觀察細小的物件。伯爵被這個前所未見的可以把東西放大觀察的小發明迷住了。他邀請這個怪人住到了他的城堡里,作為伯爵的門客,此後他可以專心投入所有的時間來研究這些光學器件。

The townspeople, however, became angry when they realized that the count was wasting his money, as they thought, on a stunt without purpose. "We are suffering from this plague," they said, "while he is paying that man for a useless hobby!" But the count remained firm. "I give you as much as I can afford," he said, "but I will also support this man and his work, because I know that someday something will come out of it!"

然而,鎮子上的人得知伯爵在這麼一個怪人和他那些無用的玩意兒上花費金錢之後,都很生氣,「我們還在受瘟疫的苦」,他們抱怨道,「而他卻為那個閑人和他沒用的愛好亂花錢!」伯爵聽到後不為所動,「我會儘可能地接濟大家」,他表示,「但我會繼續資助這個人和他的工作,我確信終有一天會有回報。」

Indeed, something very good came out of this work, and also out of similar work done by others at other places: the microscope. It is well known that the microscope has contributed more than any other invention to the progress of medicine, and that the elimination of the plague and many other contagious diseases from most parts of the world is largely a result of studies which the microscope made possible.

果不其然,他的工作贏來了豐厚的回報:顯微鏡。顯微鏡的發明給醫學帶來了前所未有的發展,由此展開的研究及其成果,消除了世界上大部分地區肆虐的瘟疫和其他一些傳染性疾病。

The count, by retaining some of his spending money for research and discovery, contributed far more to the relief of human suffering than he could have contributed by giving all he could possibly spare to his plague-ridden community.

伯爵為支持這項研究發明所花費的金錢,其最終結果大大減輕了人類所遭受的苦難,這回報遠遠超過單純將這些錢用來救濟那些遭受瘟疫的人。

The situation which we are facing today is similar in many respects. The President of the United States is spending about 200 billion dollars in his yearly budget. This money goes to health, education, welfare, urban renewal, highways, transportation, foreign aid, defense, conservation, science, agriculture and many installations inside and outside the country. About 1.6 percent of this national budget was allocated to space exploration this year. The space program includes Project Apollo, and many other smaller projects in space physics, space astronomy, space biology, planetary projects, Earth resources projects, and space engineering. To make this expenditure for the space program possible, the average American taxpayer with 10,000 dollars income per year is paying about 30 tax dollars for space. The rest of his income, 9,970 dollars, remains for his subsistence, his recreation, his savings, his other taxes, and all his other expenditures.

我們目前面臨類似的問題。美國總統的年度預算共有2000億美元,這些錢將用於醫療、教育、福利、城市建設、高速公路、交通運輸、海外援助、國防、環保、科技、農業以及其他多項國內外的工程。今年,預算中的1.6%將用於探索宇宙,這些花銷將用於阿波羅以計劃、其他一些涵蓋了天體物理學、深空天文學、空間生物學、行星探測工程、地球資源工程的小項目以及空間工程技術。為擔負這些太空項目的支出,平均每個年收入10,000美元的美國納稅人需要支付約30美元給太空,剩下的9,970美元則可用於一般生活開支、休閑娛樂、儲蓄、別的稅項等花銷。

You will probably ask now: "Why don"t you take 5 or 3 or 1 dollar out of the 30 space dollars which the average American taxpayer is paying, and send these dollars to the hungry children?" To answer this question, I have to explain briefly how the economy of this country works. The situation is very similar in other countries. The government consists of a number of departments (Interior, Justice, Health, Education and Welfare, Transportation, Defense, and others) and the bureaus (National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and others). All of them prepare their yearly budgets according to their assigned missions, and each of them must defend its budget against extremely severe screening by congressional committees, and against heavy pressure for economy from the Bureau of the Budget and the President. When the funds are finally appropriated by Congress, they can be spent only for the line items specified and approved in the budget.

也許你會問:「為什麼不從納稅人為太空支付的30美元里抽出5美元或3美元或是1美元來救濟飢餓的兒童呢?」為了回答這個問題,我需要先簡單解釋一下我們國家的經濟是如何運行的,其他國家也是類似的情形。政府由幾個部門(如內政部、司法部、衛生部與公眾福利部、教育部、運輸部、國防部等)和幾個機構(國家科學基金會、國家航空航天局等)組成,這些部門和機構根據自己的職能制定相應的年度預算,並嚴格執行以應對國務委員會的監督,同時還要應付來自預算部門和總統對於其經濟效益的壓力。當資金最終由國會撥出後,將嚴格用於經預算批准的計劃中的項目。

The budget of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, naturally, can contain only items directly related to aeronautics and space. If this budget were not approved by Congress, the funds proposed for it would not be available for something else; they would simply not be levied from the taxpayer, unless one of the other budgets had obtained approval for a specific increase which would then absorb the funds not spent for space. You realize from this brief discourse that support for hungry children, or rather a support in addition to what the United States is already contributing to this very worthy cause in the form of foreign aid, can be obtained only if the appropriate department submits a budget line item for this purpose, and if this line item is then approved by Congress.

顯然,NASA的預算中所包含的項目都是和航空航天有關的。未經國會批准的預算項目,是不會得到資金支持的,自然也不會被課稅,除非有其他部門的預算涵蓋了該項目,藉此花掉沒有分配給太空項目的資金。由這段簡短的說明可以看出,要想援助飢餓的兒童,或在美國已有的對外援助項目上增加援助金額,需要首先由相關部門提出預算,然後由國會批准才行。

You may ask now whether I personally would be in favor of such a move by our government. My answer is an emphatic yes. Indeed, I would not mind at all if my annual taxes were increased by a number of dollars for the purpose of feeding hungry children, wherever they may live.

要問是否同意政府實施類似的政策,我個人的意見是絕對贊成。我完全不介意每年多付出一點點稅款來幫助飢餓的兒童,無論他們身在何處。

I know that all of my friends feel the same way. However, we could not bring such a program to life merely by desisting from making plans for voyages to Mars. On the contrary, I even believe that by working for the space program I can make some contribution to the relief and eventual solution of such grave problems as poverty and hunger on Earth. Basic to the hunger problem are two functions: the production of food and the distribution of food. Food production by agriculture, cattle ranching, ocean fishing and other large-scale operations is efficient in some parts of the world, but drastically deficient in many others. For example, large areas of land could be utilized far better if efficient methods of watershed control, fertilizer use, weather forecasting, fertility assessment, plantation programming, field selection, planting habits, timing of cultivation, crop survey and harvest planning were applied.

我相信我的朋友們也會持相同的態度。然而,事情並不是僅靠把去往火星航行的計劃取消就能輕易實現的。相對的,我甚至認為可以通過太空項目,來為緩解乃至最終解決地球上的貧窮和飢餓問題作出貢獻。解決飢餓問題的關鍵有兩部分:食物的生產和食物的發放。食物的生產所涉及的農業、畜牧業、漁業及其他大規模生產活動在世界上的一些地區高效高產,而在有的地區則產量嚴重不足。通過高科技手段,如灌溉管理,肥料的使用,天氣預報,產量評估,程序化種植,農田優選,作物的習性與耕作時間選擇,農作物調查及收割計劃,可以顯著提高土地的生產效率。

The best tool for the improvement of all these functions, undoubtedly, is the artificial Earth satellite. Circling the globe at a high altitude, it can screen wide areas of land within a short time; it can observe and measure a large variety of factors indicating the status and condition of crops, soil, droughts, rainfall, snow cover, etc., and it can radio this information to ground stations for appropriate use. It has been estimated that even a modest system of Earth satellites equipped with Earth resources, sensors, working within a program for worldwide agricultural improvements, will increase the yearly crops by an equivalent of many billions of dollars.

人造地球衛星無疑是改進這兩個關鍵問題最有力的工具。在遠離地面的運行軌道上,衛星能夠在很短的時間裡掃描大片的陸地,可以同時觀察計算農作物生長所需要的多項指標,土壤、旱情、雨雪天氣等等,並且可以將這些信息廣播至地面接收站以便做進一步處理。據估算,配備有土地資源感測器及相應的農業程序的人造衛星系統,即便是最簡單的型號,也能給農作物的年產量帶來數以十億美元計的提升。

The distribution of the food to the needy is a completely different problem. The question is not so much one of shipping volume, it is one of international cooperation. The ruler of a small nation may feel very uneasy about the prospect of having large quantities of food shipped into his country by a large nation, simply because he fears that along with the food there may also be an import of influence and foreign power. Efficient relief from hunger, I am afraid, will not come before the boundaries between nations have become less divisive than they are today. I do not believe that space flight will accomplish this miracle over night. However, the space program is certainly among the most promising and powerful agents working in this direction.

如何將食品發放給需要的人則是另外一個全新的問題,關鍵不在於輪船的容量,而在於國際間的合作。小國統治者對於來自大國的大量食品的輸入很難做出準確的判斷,他們害怕伴隨著食物一同而來的還有外國勢力對其統治地位的影響。恐怕在國與國之間消除隔閡之前,飢餓問題無法得以高效解決了。我不認為太空計劃能一夜之間創造奇蹟,然而,探索宇宙有助於促使問題向著良好的方向發展。

Let me only remind you of the recent near-tragedy of Apollo 13. When the time of the crucial reentry of the astronauts approached, the Soviet Union discontinued all Russian radio transmissions in the frequency bands used by the Apollo Project in order to avoid any possible interference, and Russian ships stationed themselves in the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans in case an emergency rescue would become necessary. Had the astronaut capsule touched down near a Russian ship, the Russians would undoubtedly have expended as much care and effort in their rescue as if Russian cosmonauts had returned from a space trip. If Russian space travelers should ever be in a similar emergency situation, Americans would do the same without any doubt.

以最近發生的阿波羅13號事故為例。當宇航員處於關鍵的大氣層再入期時,為了保證通訊暢通,蘇聯關閉了境內與阿波羅飛船所用頻帶相同的所有廣播通信。同時派出艦艇到太平洋和大西洋海域以備第一時間進行搜救工作。如果宇航員的救生艙降落到俄方艦船附近,俄方人員會像對待從太空返回的本國宇航員一樣對他們進行救助。同樣,如果俄方的宇宙飛船遇到了類似的緊急情況,美國也一定會毫不猶豫地提供援助。

Higher food production through survey and assessment from orbit, and better food distribution through improved international relations, are only two examples of how profoundly the space program will impact life on Earth. I would like to quote two other examples: stimulation of technological development, and generation of scientific knowledge.

通過衛星進行監測與分析來提高食品產量,以及通過改善國際關係提高食品發放的效率,只是通過太空項目提高人類生活質量的兩個方面。下面我想介紹另外兩個重要作用:促進科學技術的發展和提高一代人的科學素養。

The requirements for high precision and for extreme reliability which must be imposed upon the components of a moon-travelling spacecraft are entirely unprecedented in the history of engineering. The development of systems which meet these severe requirements has provided us a unique opportunity to find new material and methods, to invent better technical systems, to manufacturing procedures, to lengthen the lifetimes of instruments, and even to discover new laws of nature

.登月工程需要歷史上前所未有的高精度和高可靠性。面對如此嚴苛的要求,我們要尋找新材料,新方法;開發出更好的工程系統;用更可靠的製作流程;讓儀器的工作壽命更長久;甚至需要探索全新的自然規律。

All this newly acquired technical knowledge is also available for application to Earth-bound technologies. Every year, about a thousand technical innovations generated in the space program find their ways into our Earthly technology where they lead to better kitchen appliances and farm equipment, better sewing machines and radios, better ships and airplanes, better weather forecasting and storm warning, better communications, better medical instruments, better utensils and tools for everyday life. Presumably, you will ask now why we must develop first a life support system for our moon-travelling astronauts, before we can build a remote-reading sensor system for heart patients. The answer is simple: significant progress in the solutions of technical problems is frequently made not by a direct approach, but by first setting a goal of high challenge which offers a strong motivation for innovative work, which fires the imagination and spurs men to expend their best efforts, and which acts as a catalyst by including chains of other reactions.

這些為登月發明的新技術同樣可以用於地面上的工程項目。每年,都有大概一千項從太空項目中發展出來的新技術被用於日常生活中,這些技術打造出更好的廚房用具和農場設備,更好的縫紉機和收音機,更好的輪船和飛機,更精確的天氣預報和風暴預警,更好的通訊設施,更好的醫療設備,乃至更好的日常小工具。你可能會問為什麼先設計出宇航員登月艙的維生系統,而不是先為聽力障礙患者造出有聲閱讀設備呢。答案很簡單:解決工程問題時,重要的技術突破往往並不是按部就班直接得到的,而是來自能夠激發出強大創新精神,能夠燃起的想像力和堅定的行動力,以及能夠整合好所有資源的充滿挑戰的目標。

Spaceflight without any doubt is playing exactly this role. The voyage to Mars will certainly not be a direct source of food for the hungry. However, it will lead to so many new technologies and capabilities that the spin-offs from this project alone will be worth many times the cost of its implementation.

太空旅行無可置疑地是一項充滿挑戰的事業。通往火星的航行並不能直接提供食物解決饑荒問題。然而,它所帶來大量的新技術和新方法可以用在火星項目之外,這將產生數倍於原始花費的收益。

Besides the need for new technologies, there is a continuing great need for new basic knowledge in the sciences if we wish to improve the conditions of human life on Earth. We need more knowledge in physics and chemistry, in biology and physiology, and very particularly in medicine to cope with all these problems which threaten man"s life: hunger, disease, contamination of food and water, pollution of the environment.

若希望人類生活得越來越好,除了需要新的技術,我們還需要基礎科學不斷有新的進展。包括物理學和化學,生物學和生理學,特別是醫學,用來照看人類的健康,應對飢餓、疾病、食物和水的污染以及環境污染等問題。

We need more young men and women who choose science as a career and we need better support for those scientists who have the talent and the determination to engage in fruitful research work. Challenging research objectives must be available, and sufficient support for research projects must be provided. Again, the space program with its wonderful opportunities to engage in truly magnificent research studies of moons and planets, of physics and astronomy, of biology and medicine is an almost ideal catalyst which induces the reaction between the motivation for scientific work, opportunities to observe exciting phenomena of nature, and material support needed to carry out the research effort.

我們需要更多的年輕人投入到科學事業中來,我們需要給予那些投身科研事業的有天分的科學家更多的幫助。隨時要有富於挑戰的研究項目,同時要保證對項目給予充分的資源支持。在此我要重申,太空項目是科技進步的催化劑,它為學術研究工作提供了絕佳和實踐機會,包括對月球和其他行星的研究、物理學和天文學、生物學和醫學科學等學科,有它,科學界源源不斷出現令人激動不已研究課題,人類得以窺見宇宙無比瑰麗的景象;為了它,新技術新方法不斷湧現。

Among all the activities which are directed, controlled, and funded by the American government, the space program is certainly the most visible and probably the most debated activity, although it consumes only 1.6 percent of the total national budget, and 3 per mille (less than one-third of 1 percent) of the gross national product. As a stimulant and catalyst for the development of new technologies, and for research in the basic sciences, it is unparalleled by any other activity. In this respect, we may even say that the space program is taking over a function which for three or four thousand years has been the sad prerogative of wars.

由美國政府控制並提供資金支持的所有活動中,太空項目無疑最引人矚目也最容易引起爭議,儘管其僅佔全部預算的1.6%,不到全民生產總值的千分之三。作為新技術的驅動者和催化劑,太空項目開展了多項基礎科學的研究,它的地位註定不同於其他活動。從某種意義上來說,以太空項目的對社會的影響,其地位相當於3-4千年前的戰爭活動。

How much human suffering can be avoided if nations, instead of competing with their bomb-dropping fleets of airplanes and rockets, compete with their moon-travelling space ships! This competition is full of promise for brilliant victories, but it leaves no room for the bitter fate of the vanquished, which breeds nothing but revenge and new wars.

如果國家之間不再比拼轟炸機和遠程導彈,取而代之比拼月球飛船的性能,那將避免多少戰亂之苦!聰慧的勝利者將滿懷希望,失敗者也不用飽嘗痛苦,不再埋下仇恨的種子,不再帶來複仇的戰爭。

Although our space program seems to lead us away from our Earth and out toward the moon, the sun, the planets, and the stars, I believe that none of these celestial objects will find as much attention and study by space scientists as our Earth. It will become a better Earth, not only because of all the new technological and scientific knowledge which we will apply to the betterment of life, but also because we are developing a far deeper appreciation of our Earth, of life, and of man.

儘管我們開展的太空項目研究的東西離地球很遙遠,已經將人類的視野延伸至月亮、至太陽、至星球、直至那遙遠的星辰,但天文學家對地球的關注,超過以上所有天外之物。太空項目帶來的不僅有那些新技術所所提供的生活品質的提升,隨著對宇宙研究的深入,我們對地球,對生命,對人類自身的感激之情將越深。太空探索讓地球更美好。


Earthrise


The photograph which I enclose with this letter shows a view of our Earth as seen from Apollo 8 when it orbited the moon at Christmas, 1968. Of all the many wonderful results of the space program so far, this picture may be the most important one. It opened our eyes to the fact that our Earth is a beautiful and most precious island in an unlimited void, and that there is no other place for us to live but the thin surface layer of our planet, bordered by the bleak nothingness of space. Never before did so many people recognize how limited our Earth really is, and how perilous it would be to tamper with its ecological balance. Ever since this picture was first published, voices have become louder and louder warning of the grave problems that confront man in our times: pollution, hunger, poverty, urban living, food production, water control, overpopulation. It is certainly not by accident that we begin to see the tremendous tasks waiting for us at a time when the young space age has provided us the first good look at our own planet.

隨信一塊寄出的這張照片,是1968年聖誕節那天阿波羅8號在環月球軌道上拍攝的地球的景象。太空項目所能帶來的各種結果中,這張照片也許是其中最可貴的一項。它開闊了人類的視野,讓我們如此直觀地感受到到地球是廣闊無垠的宇宙中如此美麗而又珍貴的孤島,同時讓我們認識到地球是我們唯一的家園,離開地球就是荒蕪陰冷的外太空。無論在此之前人們對地球的了解是多麼的有限,對於破壞生態平衡的嚴重後果的認識是多麼的不充分。在這張照片公開發表之後,面對人類目前所面臨的種種嚴峻形勢,如環境污染、飢餓、貧窮、過度城市化、糧食問題、水資源問題、人口問題等等,號召大家正視這些嚴重問題的呼聲越來越多。人們突然表示出對自身問題的關注,不能說和目前正在進行的這些初期太空探索項目,以及它所帶來的對於人類自身家園的全新視角無關。

Very fortunately though, the space age not only holds out a mirror in which we can see ourselves, it also provides us with the technologies, the challenge, the motivation, and even with the optimism to attack these tasks with confidence. What we learn in our space program, I believe, is fully supporting what Albert Schweitzer had in mind when he said: "I am looking at the future with concern, but with good hope."

太空探索不僅僅給人類提供一面審視自己的鏡子,它還能給我們帶來全新的技術,全新的挑戰和進取精神,以及面對嚴峻現實問題時依然樂觀自信的心態。我相信,人類從宇宙中學到的,充分印證了Albert Schweitzer 那句名言:「我憂心忡忡地看待未來,但仍滿懷美好的希望。 」


My very best wishes will always be with you, and with your children.
向您和您的孩子們致以我最真摯的敬意。

Very sincerely yours,
您誠摯的

Ernst Stuhlinger
恩斯特 史都林格

Associate Director for Science
科學副總監


科研的事情,你解釋給不懂科研的人聽,就和對牛彈琴一樣,就像樓上那位。
首先花費,別整天納稅人了,中國航天替國外發射顆衛星能掙不少錢,登月可以算做廣告了。
而且你看似花費高,其實和每年的三公經費比起來九牛一毛。人類的天性就是要探索,當年怕花錢,鄭和航海半途而廢,結果中國慫了五百年,現在又一大幫人JJww的。


當年鄭和要是下了東洋,今天你還擔心什麼四六級?

今天你不支持探月,明天你孫子住火星還是要考四六級。


因為他們覺得把錢發給他們更好


要包容不同的聲音,登月這麼大的事情,全國這麼多人關心,如果人人都說好,人人都支持,你覺得正常嗎?
金正恩要是搞登月,所有朝鮮人肯定拍手叫好,你覺得這樣靠譜嗎?
中國是一個搭便車的國家,基礎工業這輩子沒辦法趕上那些老牌工業國家了。但是電子網路太空科技方面,和那些發達國家還是有機會在同一起跑線上叫板的。登月這個項目的意義,往小了說,對中國而言,民用和軍事上都很重要,現在全球有幾個國家搞得了太空大戰計劃?搞得了天基武器?誰能夠控制太空,誰在國際舞台就有話語權。往大了說,這個項目對人類貢獻也很大,當初有蘇聯和美國叫板的時候,人類的太空事業一日千里。蘇聯一倒台,NASA瞬間降格成一個搞望遠鏡的邊緣科研機構。現在中國有錢有閑,肯頂上這個位置,重新開啟太空競賽,美國人肯定不敢含糊呀,人類殖民火星指日可待。


你是大學屌絲狗
現在你有大量的時間。
你可以
健身,
或者
打多塔。


樓主現在的問題就是既然健身需要準備器械準備蛋白粉這麼麻煩又不能馬上爽。
為什麼不繼續多塔。


1.
當年美國阿波羅計劃,算是傾其國力了。
在工程高峰時期,參加工程的有2萬家企業、200多所大學和80多個科研機構,總人數超過30萬人。
整個國家的科研能力都得到了提升。

2.
不過,那是冷戰時期。
那是做給蘇聯和古巴看的。
現在,NASA做不到了,預算不夠了。
因為國民也不願意了。

前幾天,看到NASA的一個新宣傳片。
額,最近飛機經常出事。
NASA的宣傳片里,提到很多航天技術用在航空領域,讓飛機更安全。
我感覺那是在告訴國民:
「這些航天技術真的能大大帶動科技的發展,而這些科技反過來能夠用在地面上。」

3.
剛剛早飯時看到 Planetary Resources 和 SpaceX 的去年回顧。
以前還在想,說到創業,為什麼美國的有些公司能夠那麼地超前和理想化。
而且,還一點點做得風生水起。
前者要去小行星上採礦,後者要使用可以回收的火箭。

看了這兩個公司的投資人列表。
大約是兩類人。
一類是,之前投科技公司發了財的風投人。
另一類,是之前搞技術,搞了科技公司發了財的人。

也許,等國內的靠科技發財的有錢人多起來了。
民營的航天事業能夠為國家主導的航天事業做一點補充。
那會是願意在這激動人心的事情上燒錢的有錢人。


Ps: 看到 Orion trial by fire 的視頻,總覺得熱淚盈眶啊。


人無遠慮必有近憂。


當年在中國大地上修建的第一條鐵路,在舉國沸騰中上馬了(迫於當時侵略者的壓力),後來,清政府以火車頭動靜太大,會驚動清朝的龍脈,打擾他們祖先休眠,把機車頭改為馬車頭,真是舉世無雙(在現在來看,簡直難以理解,愚昧無知,那時整個西方都在大修鐵路,帶動工業的蓬勃發展,雖然西方強迫我們修是為了更好的侵略),也許,如今的執政者鑒於此,對修高鐵情有獨鍾,他們太害怕再落後於人了,雖然我也對高鐵大躍進式發展頗有微詞。以銅為鏡,可以正衣冠,以史為鏡,可以知興替。


西部人民還在吃草。


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