尋找外星生命 史蒂芬·霍金支持新項目

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The project called Breakthrough Spaceshot envisions sending a fleet of small robotic spacecraft to the nearest star system which is Alpha Centauri.

這個項目名為「突破攝星」，擬計劃向最近的恆星系統——半人馬阿爾法星系發射一艦小型機器人式航天器。

Milner demonstrated the prototype at a conference in New York.

米爾納在紐約召開的一場會議中展示了該航天器的雛形。

「This is a StarChip, a gram-scale wafer containing cameras, photon thrusters, power supply and navigation and communication equipment. 」

「這是『星之晶元』，克量級晶元，它集攝像、光子推進器、電源、導航和通訊設備為一體。」

Milner said the chip, the size of a large postage stamp will cost no more than an iPhone.

米爾納表示這個郵票大小的晶元的成本將不會貴過一部iPhone手機。

Together with a light sail, it will form what inventors call an 「nanocraft」.

同時與光帆相結合，它將成為其發明者所命名為的「星際航天器」。

A swarm of this tiny spacecraft will be propelled through outer space by a cluster of powerful laser beams and travel much farther than any previous vehicle.

一群這種迷你航天器將由一束強激光助推到外太空，它能航駛的距離將空前遙遠。

People have long imagined life on other planets and interstellar travel, but few believe it is possible in our lifetime.

長久以來人們幻想在其他星球居住，也幻想星際旅行，但是很少有人真的相信這在有生之年可以實現。

Cosmologist Hawking is optimistic that the distance between Earth and the Alpha Centauri system, about 40 trillion kilometers, can be cross within a generation.

宇宙學家霍金樂觀地認為地球與半人馬阿爾法星系間的距離——40萬億公里，通過一代人的時間就可以抵達。

US-based scientists Freeman Dyson says we may not have to go that far.

美籍科學家弗里曼·戴森表示，我們可能不用走那麼遠。

「The space bewteen here and Alpha Centauri is not empty that it』s not just a huge void which you have to cross in order to reach something interesting on the other side. On the contrary, the thousands of objects in between. 」

「從這裡到半人馬阿爾法之間不是空的，不僅僅是巨大的宇宙空間，穿越宇宙空間才能夠到達另一端有趣的彼岸。而相反，這中間是存在數千個星體的。」

Dyson believes the life is more likely to be found on an asteroid or another small galactic object on a planet. Even so the journey to any of them will take at least 20 years.

戴森認為，生命更加可能在某個小行星或另外小型行星上的銀河系物體。儘管這樣，來場旅行依舊會花上至少20年時間。

Entrepreneurs believe they can get their mission off the ground in about 20 years, then it would take at least four more years for any information to be transmitted back to earth.

企業家們相信，他們能在20年內完成離開地面的使命，接下來便是任何信息通過至少4年的時間才可以返回地球。

「Our goal is to get people all over the world involved especially young people that will be around when we get there.」

「我們的目標是讓全世界人民都參與進來，尤其是年輕人，當我們到達那邊的時候他們還在世。」

A person warned this year maybe in his fifties when that happens, unless another breakthrough in technology speeds up the process.

有人提醒說當這一切發生時，他正值50多歲，除非這期間又在技術上實現新的突破。

Zlatica Hoke, VOA NEWS, Washington.

VOA新聞記者茲拉提卡·霍克於華盛頓為您報道。

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