I leapt from the stratosphere. Here's how I did it | Alan Eustace

翻译人员: Pechow Z 校对人员: Wei Wu

So I grew up in Orlando, Florida.

我在佛罗里达州的奥兰多市长大

I was the son of an aerospace engineer.

我是航空工程师的儿子

I lived and breathed the Apollo program.

阿波罗计划与我的生活息息相关

We either saw the launches from our backyard

我们不是在后院里看着发射器

or we saw it by driving in the hour over to the Cape.

就是开上好几个小时车到开普敦镇去看它

I was impressed by, obviously, space and everything about it,

显然，空间科学对我产生了深刻的影响

but I was most impressed by the engineering that went into it.

但最让我印象深刻的是这背后的工程学

Behind me you see an amazing view,

你看到的在我身后的壮观景象

a picture that was taken from the International Space Station,

是一幅从国际空间站拍的图片

and it shows a portion of our planet

它展示了我们星球的一部分

that's rarely seen and rarely studied

罕见而且极少被研究的一部分

and almost never explored.

几乎从未被探索的一个地方

That place is called the stratosphere.

这一部分被称为平流层

If you start on the planet and you go up and up and up,

如果你从地面出发一直往上往上往上

it gets colder and colder and colder,

周围会变得愈来愈冷

until you reach the beginning of the stratosphere,

直到你进入平流层

and then an amazing thing happens.

接下来神奇的事情发生了

It gets colder at a much slower rate, and then it starts warming up,

变冷的速度变慢了许多，然后开始暖和起来

and then it gets warmer and warmer

然后越来越暖和

until the point where you can almost survive without any protection,

直到你几乎不需要任何保护措施也能生存

about zero degrees,

大约到达了零度

and then you end up getting colder and colder,

接下来你会愈来愈冷愈来愈冷

and that's the top of the stratosphere.

这就是平流层的顶部了

It is one of the least accessible places on our planet.

这是我们这个星球极少有人到达的地方之一

Most often, when it's visited,

大多数情况下，当它被造访时，

it's by astronauts who are blazing up at it

那是宇航员们乘坐着火箭

at probably several times the speed of sound,

以大约是音速数倍的速度穿过它

and they get a few seconds on the way up,

宇航员在上升时停留了几秒钟

and then they get this blazing ball of fire coming back in,

还有就是他们返航时，坐着烧成火球的返回舱

on the way back in.

回到地面上

But the question I asked is, is it possible to linger in the stratosphere?

但我想问的问题是，是否有可能在平流层逗留？

Is it possible to experience the stratosphere?

是否有可能去体验平流层？

Is it possible to explore the stratosphere?

是否有可能去探索平流层？

I studied this using my favorite search engine

我用我最喜欢的搜索引擎来研究这个问题

for quite a while, about a year,

研究了大约有一年

and then I made a scary phone call.

然后我根据一个朋友的参考意见

It was a reference from a friend of mine to call Taber MacCallum

给Taber MacCallum打了一通吓人的电话

from Paragon Space Development Corporation,

他在Paragon空间发展公司工作

and I asked him the question:

我问了他这个问题：

is it possible to build

有没有可能

a system to go into the stratosphere?

建造一个去平流层的系统？

And he said it was.

他回答说， “可以。”

And after a period of about three years, we proceeded to do just that.

此后大约过了三年，我们开始着手筹划

And on October 24 of last year,

在去年的十月24号

in this suit,

穿着这套设备

I started on the ground,

我从地面出发

I went up in a balloon to 135,890 feet --

我在一个气球中上升到离地135,890英尺的高度

but who's counting?

但谁关心数字呢？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Came back to Earth at speeds of up to 822 miles an hour.

回地球的速度高达822公里每小时

It was a four-minute and 27-second descent.

我下降了四分27秒

And when I got to 10,000 feet, I opened a parachute and I landed.

当我到达10，000英尺，我打开降落伞然后在地面着陆

(Applause)

（鼓掌喝彩）

But this is really a science talk, and it's really an engineering talk,

但这是一次关于科学的演讲, 关于工程技术的演讲

and what was amazing to me about that experience

这次体验让我感到不可思议的是

is that Taber said, yes, I think we can build a stratospheric suit,

Taber说，我们可以制作一套适用于平流层的装备，

and more than that, come down tomorrow

不止如此，明天过来

and let's talk to the team that formed the core of the group

让我们和制作出装备的小组的

that actually built it.

核心人员深入探讨。

And they did something which I think is important,

他们做了一些我认为很重要的事情，

which is they took the analogy of scuba diving.

他们参考了潜水器的设计。

So in scuba diving,

在潜水器里，

you have a self-contained system.

有一个自携装置。

You have everything that you could ever need.

你所需要的一切都有。

You have a scuba tank.

你有一个氧气瓶。

You have a wetsuit.

你有潜水服。

You have visibility.

你有可视装置。

And that scuba is exactly this system,

潜水装置就是我们想要的系统，

and we're going to launch it into the stratosphere.

我们要把一种类似的装置发射到平流层去。

Three years later, this is what we have.

三年研究后，这是我们的改良装置。

We've got an amazing suit that was made by ILC Dover.

ILC Dover为我们制作了一套令人惊叹的服装装置。

ILC Dover was the company that made all of the Apollo suits

ILC Dover公司提供了阿波罗计划的所有保护套装

and all of the extravehicular activity suits.

和所有外太空活动的保护套装

They had never sold a suit commercially,

他们从来不向私人出售，

only to the government,

只和政府打交道，

but they sold one to me, which I am very grateful for.

但他们向我提供了一套，我对此很是感激。

Up here we have a parachute. This was all about safety.

在这里我们有一个降落伞包。安全起见。

Everyone on the team knew

我们团队里的人都知道

that I have a wife and two small children --

我有妻子和两个很小的孩子 --

10 and 15 --

一个十岁另一个十五岁 ——

and I wanted to come back safely.

我想平安地回来。

So there's a main parachute and a reserve parachute,

有一个主降落伞包和一个备用降落伞包，

and if I do nothing,

如果我什么都不做（译注：失去意识或行为能力），

the reserve parachute is going to open because of an automatic opening device.

备用降落伞包将会被自动启用装置打开。

The suit itself can protect me from the cold.

这套保护服会为我御寒。

This area in the front here has thermal protection.

前面的部分有高温保护装置。

It will actually heat water that will wrap around my body.

它会加热环绕我身体的水。

It has two redundant oxygen tanks.

它有两个冗余的氧气瓶。

Even if I was to get a quarter-inch hole in this suit,

即使我在这套保护服上弄出一个四分之一英寸的小孔，

which is extremely unlikely,

当然这个几率很小，

this system would still protect me from the low pressure of space.

这套装置依然能在低压环境中保护我。

The main advantage of this system is weight and complexity.

这套系统主要的优点是重量很轻，复杂性相对教低。

So the system weighs about 500 pounds,

整套系统重500磅，

and if you compare it to the other attempt recently to go up in the stratosphere,

如果跟其它穿越平流层的装备比的话，

they used a capsule.

别人使用的是太空舱。

And to do a capsule, there's an amazing amount of complexity that goes into it,

制作太空舱需要极其复杂的工艺，

and it weighed about 3,000 pounds,

重量约为3000磅，

and to raise 3,000 pounds to an altitude of 135,000 feet,

要让3000磅的装置升到135,000英尺，

which was my target altitude,

那是我的目标高度，

it would have taken a balloon that was 45 to 50 million cubic feet.

需要一个4.5到5千万立方英尺的气球。

Because I only weighed 500 pounds in this system,

而整个系统加我在内只有500磅，

we could do it with a balloon that was five times smaller than that,

我们可以用一个小五倍的气球代替，

and that allowed us to use a launch system that was dramatically simpler

这样我们就可以用一个简便多了的发射系统

than what needs to be done for a much larger balloon.

不需要那些大气球需要的复杂装备。

So with that, I want to take you to Roswell, New Mexico, on October 24.

现在，我带你们看看10月24日的罗斯威尔市，在新墨西哥州。

We had an amazing team that got up in the middle of the night.

我们有一个在深夜工作的伟大的团队。

And here's the suit.

这就是保护服。

Again, this is using the front loader that you'll see in a second,

再次说明，这是用抓钩机吊起来的，你们马上会再见到，

and I want to play you a video of the actual launch.

我想放一段发射现场的视频。

Roswell's a great place to launch balloons,

罗斯威尔是发射气球的好场所，

but it's a fantastic place to land under a parachute,

更是一个降落伞降落的绝佳场所，

especially when you're going to land 70 miles away from the place you started.

尤其是你要从70英里的高空降落时。

That's a helium truck in the background.

背景里的是一辆装氢气的卡车。

It's darkness.

天黑了。

I've already spent about an hour and a half pre-breathing.

我已经花了一个半小时调整呼吸。

And then here you see the suit going on.

然后你看到的是装备保护服的过程。

It takes about an hour to get the suit on.

整个过程用了一个小时。

Astronauts get this really nice air-conditioned van

宇航员乘坐空调专车去发射点

to go to the launch pad, but I got a front loader.

但我是被抓钩机吊着送去的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

You can see the top. You can see the balloon up there.

你可以看见最上面。你可以看见那上面的气球。

That's where the helium is.

里面填充的是氢气。

This is Dave clearing the airspace with the FAA for 15 miles.

这是Dave和联邦航空管理局在帮我清出来15英里的飞行空间。

And there we go.

现在我们升空了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That's me waving with my left hand.

这是我在挥动我的左手。

The reason I'm waving with my left hand

我挥动左手的原因是

is because on the right hand is the emergency cutaway.

挥动右手表示紧急刹停。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

My team forbade me from using my right hand.

我的团队禁止我用我的右手。

So the trip up is beautiful. It's kind of like Google Earth in reverse.

向上的旅途十分美妙。有点像反过来播放的谷歌地图。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It took two hours and seven minutes to go up,

向上花了两个小时七分钟，

and it was the most peaceful two hours and seven minutes.

那是最平静的两小时七分钟。

I was mostly trying to relax.

大多时间我试着放松。

My heart rate was very low

我的心率极其缓慢

and I was trying not to use very much oxygen.

我尽可能少用氧气。

You can see how the fields in the background

你可以在背景里看到地面建筑

are relatively big at this point,

现在还是相对比较大的，

and you can see me going up and up.

你可以看见我一直在上升。

It's interesting here, because if you look,

这里十分有趣，你看，

I'm right over the airport, and I'm probably at 50,000 feet,

我在机场的正上方，大约50,000英尺高，

but immediately I'm about to go into a stratospheric wind

但马上我就要进入平流层风带

of over 120 miles an hour.

那里风的时速超过120英里。

This is my flight director telling me that I had just gone higher

这是我的飞行指导员告诉我

than anybody else had ever gone in a balloon,

我比任何用气球上去的人到得更高，

and I was about 4,000 feet from release.

我离自由落体点还有4,000英尺。

This is what it looks like.

终于抵达了最终的高度

You can see the darkness of space, the curvature of the Earth,

你可以看见太空中的暗处，地球的曲线，

the fragile planet below.

底下的脆弱的星球。

I'm practicing my emergency procedures mentally right now.

当时正在脑海中演练紧急情况处理流程。

If anything goes wrong, I want to be ready.

如果有意外发生，我希望能稳妥应对。

And the main thing that I want to do here

在这里的我想做的主要事情是

is to have a release and fall and stay completely stable.

稳稳当当地降落在目的地。

(Video) Ground control. Everyone ready?

（视频）地面控制台。所有人都准备好了吗？

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

五！四！三！二！一！

Alan Eustace: There's the balloon going by, fully inflated at this point.

现在飘过去的是气球，已经充好气了。

And there you can see a drogue parachute, which I'll demonstrate in just a second,

现在你看到的是减速伞，我马上会介绍，

because that's really important.

因为这非常重要。

There's the balloon going by a second time.

这是第二次看到气球

Right now, I'm about at the speed of sound.

现在，我马上要以音速飞行。

There's nothing for me to tell it's the speed of sound,

我对音速没有什么好描述的，

and very soon I will actually be as fast as I ever get,

很快我就到达了所能达到的最高速，

822 miles an hour.

时速822英里。

(Video) Ground control: We lost the data.

（视频）地面控制台：我们的通信中断了

AE: So now I'm down low right now

现在我开始下降了、

and you can basically see the parachute come out right there.

你们能看见降落伞在这边出现。

At this point, I'm very happy that there's a parachute out.

那时，我非常开心降落伞打开了。

I thought I was the only one happy,

我以为我是唯一一个觉得开心的人，

but it turns out mission control was really happy as well.

但我发现任务控制中心也非常开心。

The really nice thing about this is the moment I opened --

最妙的时刻是我打开降落伞时 --

I had a close of friend of mine, Blikkies, my parachute guy.

我的好朋友，Blikkies，我的降落伞教练，

He flew in another airplane, and he actually jumped out

他乘坐另一架飞机，他真的在机上跳下来

and landed right next to me.

然后在我身旁降落。

He was my wingman on the descent.

他是我下降过程的军师。

This is my landing, but it's probably more properly called a crash.

这是我的降落过程，更准确的说是撞击地面的过程。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I hate to admit it, but this wasn't even close to my worst landing.

我非常不愿意承认，这是我最最槽糕的降落。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

(Video) Man: How are you doing?

（视频）男人：你好吗？

AE: Hi there!

AE：你好啊！

Yay.

棒极了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So I want to tell you one thing

我想告诉你们一件事情

that you might not have seen in that video,

你可能没有在视频里看过，

but one of the most critical parts of the entire thing was the release

但是整件事情中最重要的部分是刚刚脱离时

and what happens right after you release.

和接下来的十几秒钟。

And what we tried to do was use something called a drogue parachute,

我们尝试用了降速伞，

and a drogue parachute was there to stabilize me.

降速伞是帮助我平稳下降的。

And I'll show you one of those right now.

我马上要给你展示其中一个。

If any of you have ever gone tandem skydiving,

如果你们中有人试过串联跳伞，

you probably used one of these.

你可能用过这个。

But the problem with one of these things

但还有一个问题

is right when you release, you're in zero gravity.

当你自由落体是，你处于零重力。

So it's very easy for this to just turn right around you.

所以这个东西就很容易绕着你打转。

And before you know it, you can be tangled up or spinning,

在你反应过来之前，就会被缠住或者打起转来，

or you can release this drogue late,

如果你晚一点打开减速伞，

in which case what happens is you're going down at 800 miles an hour,

这时候你就会以800英里的时速下降，

and this thing is going to destroy itself

这东西就会自己被破坏

and not be very useful.

变得毫无用处。

But the guys at United Parachute Technologies came up with this idea,

但联合降落伞科技的人想出这种办法，

and it was a roll that looks like that,

翻转看起来是这样的，

but watch what happens when I pull it out.

但我把它拉出来以后。

It's forming a pipe.

它形成了一个管道。

This pipe is so solid

这个管道非常坚固

that you can take this drogue parachute and wrap it around,

让你可以把减速伞包裹在上面，

and there's no way it will ever tangle with you.

它就无法缠扰你了。

And that prevented a very serious potential problem.

这避免了非常危险的潜在问题。

So nothing is possible without an amazing team of people.

当有一个梦幻的团队是没有事情是不可能的。

The core of this was about 20 people

队伍的核心是20个成员

that worked on this for the three years,

他们在这上面花了三年，

and they were incredible.

他们非常了不起。

People asked me what the best part of this whole thing was,

人们问我整件事情最美妙的部分在哪，

and it was a chance to work with the best experts

那是与最好的专业人员共事的

in meteorology and ballooning and parachute technology

在气象学，热气球和降落伞科技共事的机会

and environmental systems and high altitude medicine.

还有环境系统和高空用药。

It was fantastic. It's an engineer's dream to work with that group of people.

那太美妙了。和他们一起共事是每个工程师梦想。

And I also at the same time wanted to thank my friends at Google,

同时我想感谢在谷歌的朋友，

both for supporting me during this effort

感谢你们对我努力成果的支持

and also covering for me in the times that I was away.

和在我不在的时间里为我分担。

But there's one other group I wanted to thank, and that's my family.

还有另一个我想致谢的团队，我的家庭。

Yay.

你们真棒。

(Applause)

（掌声）

I would constantly give them speeches about the safety of technology,

我会持续不断的告诉他们科学的安全性，

and they weren't hearing any of it.

但他们一点也不会听进去。

It was super hard on them,

这对他们来说太难了，

and the only reason that my wife put up with it

我妻子容忍下来的唯一一个原因

was because I came back incredibly happy after each of the 250 tests,

是每次当我完成测试（共250项）测试后回到家都非常开心，

and she didn't want to take that away from me.

她不想让我失去这份快乐。

So I want to close with a story.

我想以一个故事收场。

My daughter Katelyn, my 15-year-old, she and I were in the car,

我的15岁的女儿Katelyn, 和我在车里，

and we were driving down the road, and she was sitting there,

我们沿着路开，她坐在那

and she had this idea, and she goes, "Dad, I've got this idea."

她想到一个主意，她说，“爸爸，我有一个主意。”

And so I listened to her idea and I said, "Katelyn, that's impossible."

我听了她的主意然后说，“Katelyn,这是不可能的。”

And she looks at me

她看着我

and she goes, "Dad, after what you just did,

她说，“爸爸，在你做到这件事情之后，

how can you call anything impossible?"

还有什么事情可以被你称作不可能的？“

And I laughed, and I said, "OK, it's not impossible,

我大笑，然后我说，”好的，这不是不可能的，

it's just very, very hard."

只是非常，非常的困难。”

And then I paused for a second, and I said, "Katelyn,

然后我停顿了一秒，接着说，“Katelyn,

it may not be impossible, it may not even be very, very hard,

或许并不是不可能，甚至也不是难，

it's just that I don't know how to do it."

而只是因为我不知道怎么实现它。”

Thank you.

谢谢你们

(Applause)

（掌声）