Could you live on the moon? - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Laura Chen 校对人员: Monkey Luffy

You roll out of bed and leap eight meters across your underground habitat.

你翻下床，跳跃八米， 横穿你的地下栖息地。

The greywater from your sink drains into a small greenhouse

水池里的洗涤水 流入一间小温室，

where your vegetables grow.

在这里，你的蔬菜正在生长。

After suiting up,

着完装后，

you head through a transport chute to inspect the generator.

你通过一道运输滑槽去检查发动器。

Outside, it’s pitch black - just as it’s been for the last 12 days.

窗外依然是漆黑的， 在过去的十二天每一天都是这样的。

This isn’t some post-apocalyptic scenario; it’s just another day of life on the moon.

这不是世界末日后的废墟， 而是月球生活的普通一天。

And with the European Space Agency’s idea

如果你考虑到欧洲航天局的

to establish a functioning "moon camp" by the 2020s,

2020年代”月亮营地“计划，

that day may be closer than we think.

其实这一天的实现 也许比我们想象中的要快。

Of course, living on the moon won’t be easy.

当然， 在月球上生活不是什么容易的事

The camp envisioned is not so much a village as an inhabited research base

想象中的月球营比起小镇更像是

similar to those in places like Antarctica.

在南极洲的可居住的研究基地。

But there are far greater obstacles to living on the moon than just cold weather.

但是在月亮居住的难度远大于 在寒冷的地方居住。

The biggest is cosmic radiation.

最大的问题是宇宙辐射。

Unlike the Earth, the moon has no atmosphere and no magnetic field.

不像地球， 月亮没有大气层，也没有磁场。

A person on its surface can receive over 400 times the maximum safe dosage

人类在月亮表面 会受到超过 400 倍的

of heavy ion radiation,

重离子辐射安全值的影响，

enough to be fatal within ten hours, even in a spacesuit.

尽管在航天服里， 这个量足够在十个小时内致命。

The first step would likely involve robots

建造月亮居住地的第一步 可能要依靠机器人

and 3D printers constructing covered habitats from lunar soil,

和3D打印器， 它们可以用月亮的土建造居住地，

or building shelters inside caves

或者在洞里建造居住地，

formed by lava tubes from the moon’s volcanic past.

这些洞是熔岩洞， 是从以前的月亮火山形成的。

But what would the inhabitants live on?

但居民要以什么为食呢？

Supplies would need to be transported from Earth at first.

一开始得从地球运送补给品。

Growing plants requires greenhouse soil and air rich in carbon dioxide,

若要种植物，则需要温室土壤 以及富含二氧化碳的空气。

a gas that’s rare on the moon,

在月球上二氧化碳是很稀有的，

but could be synthesized from recycled materials.

但可以用回收材料来合成。

A water treatment plant could be supplied by ice mined from the polar regions

水可以由极地冰矿供给。

using a specialized drill that can bore two meters beneath the lunar surface.

这要用到专门的钻头， 钻入月球表面下 2 米才能得到水。

Friendly bacteria and viruses necessary to the human microbiome and immune system

人类微生物群系和免疫系统 所需要的良性细菌和病毒

would also have to be imported or synthesized on site.

也得要从地球进口， 或是在当地合成。

And lunar inhabitants would have to exercise for hours a day

此外，月球居民必须每天运动数小时

to maintain bone and muscle mass.

来维持骨头和肌肉的质量。

That’s because the moon’s gravity is just one-sixth that of the Earth,

那是因为月球的引力 只有地球的六分之一，

and the everyday strain of working against gravity

每天花力气来对抗引力，

is part of what keeps our bodies healthy.

是维持身体健康所必要的。

It might seem strange to go to all this trouble

你可能会觉得奇怪， 为什么要大费周章

to build a base on a dead rock we’ve already visited.

在我们已经造访过的 没有生命的岩石上建立一个基地。

But NASA’s Apollo missions only explored small portions of the moon.

其实美国太空总署的阿波罗任务 只探索了月球的小部分。

We’ve made many discoveries since then,

从那以后， 我们又有许多的新发现，

such as ice near the poles and particles of solar wind gases

比如在两极附近的冰， 以及太阳风气体的粒子，

that date back billions of years.

这些粒子有着数十亿年的历史。

They collectively show that the moon has much more to teach us

这告诉我们，太阳系的历史 还有许多秘密隐藏在月球里，

about the history of our solar system.

等着被我们探测。

A radio telescope on its far side could observe the cosmos,

架设在月球远端的无线电波望远镜 能够观察到宇宙，

shielded from the Earth’s electromagnetic interference.

因为月球的屏障， 望远镜不会被地球的电磁波干扰。

And the lunar surface is rich in minerals, like silicon, aluminum, and magnesium,

而且月球表面的矿物质丰富， 比如说硅、铝，以及镁等等，

creating great economic potential for mining.

使得月球在采矿业上 有很大的经济潜力。

But the biggest benefit of the moon camp may not lie on the moon but beyond it.

但月球营地最大的收益可能 不在月球上，而在月球外。

With the nearest possibly habitable world light-years away,

其他有可能的宜居星球， 最近的也在数光年之外，

and the International Space Station to be retired in about a decade,

但是国际太空站大约还有 十年左右就要退休了，

a moon base would be our first foothold

月球基地也许会是我们成为

towards becoming an interplanetary species.

星际物种的第一个立足点。

And proposals such as the Deep Space Gateway

“深空闸道” 这类的提案，

envision launching future missions from lunar orbit.

立志运用月球轨道发射火箭。

The smaller gravitational pull would require less fuel to overcome,

因为月球相对较小的引力， 火箭不需要浪废过多燃料来克服，

allowing for larger ships and more cargo.

所以我们可以发射更大， 运量更多的飞船。

Meanwhile, the base on the surface could serve as a testing ground

同时，在月亮表面的基地 也能够当作试验场，

for future space operations,

供未来太空行动、

a refueling station,

航天加油站

and a supply depot all in one.

以及供应仓库三合一使用。

With Europe, Russia, China, and the US expressing interest in the project,

目前欧洲、俄国、中国，以及美国 都对这个计划感兴趣，

the moon camp may come to involve

月球营地有可能会成为

the space agencies of all major nations, as well as private companies.

所有主要国家以及私人公司的 太空办事处。

Within a few decades,

在几十年内，

the moon may be bustling with mining operations,

月球可能就会变得很忙碌， 充斥着采矿活动、

research stations,

研究站

and tourist routes

以及旅游路线，

alongside a construction yard under an orbiting space port.

还有在正在建造的太空港口。

We may have already visited the moon,

我们已经拜访过月球了，

but now we’re closer than ever to making it part of humanity’s home.

但现在，是我们史上最接近 将月球变成“家”的时候。