Eric Hinterman: How going to Mars improves life on Earth | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Thomas Tam

I am all in on sending humans to Mars.

我全面参与了送人去火星。

There is nothing I want to achieve more in my career

在我的职业生涯中再没比看到

than seeing humans step foot on that planet,

人类踏上那颗星球更有成就了，

because I know it could be the start of humanity spreading into the cosmos.

因为我知道它可能是 人类在宇宙扩散的开始。

I'd be happy to be that first person on Mars,

我很乐意成为火星上 的第一个人，

but my wife thinks that a three-year vacation to a deserted planet

但我的妻子认为 在那颗荒漠的星球上呆三年，

with no oxygen, no real atmosphere,

没有氧气、没有真正的大气、

nothing to eat or drink, freezing temperatures,

没吃没喝的、寒冷的温度、

bone-depleting gravity and space radiation, is a bad idea,

榨干骨头的重力和太空射线， 基于某些原因，

for some reason.

是个糟糕的主意。

So, I'll settle for sending someone else.

所以，我派别人去就行了。

In fact, maybe some of you watching this could be the first to go to Mars.

事实上，在看这个演讲的有些人 可能会成为第一个去火星的人。

OK, so I'm going to tell you why we should go to Mars

好了，我打算告诉你们 我们为什么要去火星，

and why we should spread humanity into the rest of the Solar System.

以及为什么应该播撒 人类到太阳系其他地方。

I'll also show you that by setting out on the next great age of space exploration

我也会向你们展示通过开启 下一个伟大的太空探索时代，

we'll actually make Earth a much better place to live as well.

我们其实将会让地球变成更宜居的地方。

But before we do that,

但在说那些前，

I want to tell you about something that happened very recently,

我想要告诉你们最近发生的事情，

that I am very excited about.

我对这件事非常兴奋。

We made oxygen on Mars.

我们在火星上制造氧气。

I work on the Mars 2020 rover.

我在火星2020探测车上工作。

Perseverance is what it's called, or Percy for short.

我们称之为毅力号， 或简称“Percy”。

My role on the mission is to help one of the instruments on board,

我的角色任务是帮助车上的一个设备，

called MOXIE,

叫做MOXIE，

make oxygen from the atmosphere on Mars.

从火星大气中制造氧气。

I am fortunate to be part of the excellent team

我有幸成为这个让MOXIE成为现实

that has made MOXIE a reality.

的出色团队的一员。

MOXIE stands for the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment.

MOXIE是火星氧气 ISRU试验的代号。

ISRU stands for In-Situ Resource Utilization.

ISRU指就地资源利用。

Don't ask me why we chose to put an acronym within an acronym.

不要问我为什么要选用 首字母的缩略作为缩略词。

Sometimes we make bad decisions in life.

有时候我们在生活中做糟糕的决定。

What this all means

所有这一切的意思是

is that MOXIE takes the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars

MOXIE在火星大气中把二氧化碳

and converts it into oxygen.

转变成氧气。

It's kind of like a tree on Mars doing photosynthesis.

有点像火星上在做光合作用的树。

MOXIE is helpful for two reasons:

MOXIE在两个原因上很有帮助：

One is, you got to breathe.

第一点是，你需要呼吸。

But there’s actually a second reason

但其实是第二个原因

that requires way more oxygen than breathing.

要需求远比呼吸更多的氧气。

And that's rocket propellant.

那就是火箭推进剂。

Rockets burn a lot of propellant,

火箭要燃烧大量的推进剂，

so we have to make a lot of oxygen.

所以我们必须要制造大量的氧气。

Without oxygen, we can't breathe,

没有氧气，我们不能呼吸，

we can't move, we can't explore.

无法移动，无法探索。

I am in charge of sending commands to the rover to make oxygen on Mars.

我负责向火星车发送指令 在火星上制造氧气。

我们打包指令告诉Percy 第二天做什么，

We package up commands to tell Percy what to do the next day,

and Percy listens and does what we ask.

Percy倾听和做我们要求的动作。

Well, most of the time, anyway.

大多数时间里，不管怎样。

I know this is going to be recorded,

我知道这会被录制，

and a lot of people will watch this after the fact,

并且很多人之后会看这个，

but it's really exciting

但这是很让人兴奋，

because we actually just made oxygen for the first couple of times on Mars

因为实际上，在过去几个月中， 我们在火星上

in the past couple of months.

首次制造了几次氧气。

The first time we did, it was a pretty historic moment.

第一次做到时，这是一个历史性时刻。

And now that we've made oxygen,

现在我们制造了氧气，

I can't wait to explore what's next.

我们等不及要去探索下一个东西。

OK, so why should you want to go to Mars

那么为什么你应该去火星

and explore the rest of the solar system?

并且探索太阳系剩余地方？

And what are we going to do about all those "issues"

我们打算如何应对所有这些

my wife pointed out about Mars?

由我妻子指出在火星上的问题？

It doesn't sound like a great place to go

这听起来去的不是个好地方，

and there's a million problems we could be solving here on Earth

而且我们还可以用这些时间和金钱去解决

with our time and money instead, right?

地球上100万个问题，不是吗？

I want you to imagine in the past

我想让你们想象过去

a group of people that live on a South Pacific island.

一群生活在南太平洋岛上的人。

They've been there, isolated, for over a thousand years,

他们在那里，与世隔绝，长达一千年之久，

living generation after generation.

世世代代生活在那里。

They had no idea what was across the water,

他们对水对面是什么一无所知，

and it was incredibly dangerous to try an expedition to go find out.

并且认为尝试探索是非常危险的。

One day, the volcano that had formed the island initially,

有一天，起初塑造这个岛屿的火山

erupted, and wiped out the entire civilization on the island.

爆发了，抹掉了岛上的整个文明。

In one day,

在一天之中，

their 1,000-year-old culture vanished.

他们1000年的文化消失了。

我們有些人可能会想：

Some of us might think:

if only they had taken a leap and ventured out beyond their island

如果他们迈出一大步， 冒险走出他们的岛屿

and gone to other places.

去其他地方就好了。

We might still know what their culture was

我们可能仍能知道他们的文明

and know more about them as a people.

和了解他们作为人类的更多东西。

By the way, this has happened before.

顺便说一句，这在之前发生过。

The Bronze Age island of Thera erupted and erased the settlement

青铜时代的锡拉岛火山爆发，抹去了

that had been there for multiple millennia.

在那里存在了几千年的村庄。

Now this could be self-induced,

现在这可能是自己诱导的，

or it could be from any number of natural causes,

或者可能是多种自然原因造成的，

like an asteroid collision,

就像小行星碰撞，

a gamma-ray burst or a magnetic pole reversal.

伽马射线暴发或磁极反转。

It really isn't a question of if the Earth will face one of these events

这真的不是地球会不会面临这些威胁

that threatens our species' survival,

我们物种生存的问题，

it's a question of when.

而是何时的问题。

I hope it doesn't happen, but I'm playing the odds.

我希望它不会发生，但我是在碰运气。

Armed with this information,

有了这些信息，

don't you think we should want some sort of insurance,

你不觉得我们应该要某类保险吗，

some backups to preserve humanity's shout in the universe,

一些备份去保存人类在宇宙中的呐喊，

to not put all of our eggs in one basket?

不把所有鸡蛋放在一个篮子里吗？

If we had humans on another planet or on many planets, for example,

如果我们有人在另一颗行星 或在很多星球上，

then the survival of our species is much more likely,

那么我们物种存活就更有可能，

even if something happens to the Earth outside of our control.

即便地球上发生的事情 超出了我们的控制。

Now, a lot of people don't necessarily like what I just said,

现在，很多人未必喜欢我刚才说的，

because it could sound like we're trying to abandon the Earth.

因为听起来像我们在抛弃地球。

Run away from our problems instead of addressing them.

从问题中逃跑而不是解决它们。

That's not it at all.

根本不是这个意思。

I mean, when you finish backing up your computer,

当你完成电脑备份时，

do you go to the nearest river and chuck your computer into it?

你会跑到最近的河流 把你的电脑扔进去吗？

"Thanks for all the memories, computer, but I don't need you anymore,

“谢谢所有记忆， 电脑，我不再需要你了，

I've got a backup now."

我现在有备份。”

那就违背了整个目的。

That defeats the whole purpose.

No, we want to take excellent care of the Earth

不，我们想要好好照顾好地球

and go to space at the same time.

并同时去太空。

And here's the best part I haven't told you about yet:

这是我还没有告诉你们的最好部分：

going to space actually helps the Earth tremendously.

去太空其实对地球帮助很大。

We have seen time and time again

我们一次又一次看到

that technologies developed for space missions

在太空任务中发展的技术

have greatly helped life on Earth.

对地球上的生命帮助甚大。

Their applications are far-reaching and not limited to the space missions

它们的应用是深远的，不限于设计它们的

to which they are designed.

太空任务。

To prove it to you,

为了向你证明这点，

here are some technologies that we use every day on Earth

这里有一些起初在太空任务中开发，

that were originally developed for space missions:

现在每天都在地球上使用的技术：

cheaper and quieter artificial limbs,

更便宜和更安静的假肢、

smartphone cameras,

智能手机镜头、

firefighting equipment,

消防设备、

baby formula, memory foam, advanced solar cells,

婴儿奶粉、记忆泡沫、先进太阳能电池、

better LASIK surgery, water filters,

更好的镭射视力矫正手术、水过滤器、

scratch-resistant lenses, air purifiers.

防刮镜片、空气净化器。

The list goes on and on.

这个清单不胜枚举。

These technologies help us fight climate change, pollution,

这些技术帮助我们应对气候变化、污染、

and save lives every day on Earth.

每天拯救地球上的生命。

We invented these things because we decided to go to the Moon

我们发明这些东西是 因为我们决定去月球

and to explore space,

去探索太空，

so we can't even imagine what we might invent

所以如果我们决定去火星，

if we decide to go to Mars.

都无法想象我们会发明什么。

Why did I start out talking about Mars

为什么我要开始谈论火星，

when it's really my grand plan to explore and settle the entire solar system

而我真正想要告诉你们的是探索和定居

that I want to tell you about?

整个太阳系的宏伟计划呢？

Well, Mars is the first leap we should take in that journey.

火星是我们那个旅程的第一个飞跃。

If we can get humans set up on Mars,

如果我们能让人类定居火星，

it will serve as a stepping stone to enable further exploration

它将是我们进一步探索太阳系

into the rest of the solar system.

其他地方的垫脚石。

This should be our target.

这应该是我们的目标。

If we push ourselves towards establishing a human presence on Mars,

如果我们努力在火星上建造人类基地，

it will be a giant leap in becoming a truly spacefaring species

这是成为真正太空物种的伟大飞跃，

with all the benefits it brings.

有随之而来的一切好处。

Earth really is by far the best planet to live on

地球真是目前太阳系

in the solar system.

最宜居的星球。

But the solar system is still worth our time and energy.

但太阳系仍然值得我们花时间和精力。

As President Kennedy said,

正如肯尼迪总统所说，

we do these things not because they are easy

我们做这些事不是因为它们容易，

but because they are hard.

而是因为它们难。

If we can start to move humanity into the solar system,

如果我们能够开始让人类迁移到太阳系，

we can make those hard places more and more livable

让这些艰难地方变得越来越宜居住，

while improving life here on Earth at the same time.

同时提升地球上的生活。

I want to put a quote up from someone who inspired a lot of people

我想引用一句鼓舞了很多人

to think more and more deeply about space exploration.

去越来越深入思考太空探索的话。

He said, "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.

他说：“想象力常常带我们 抵达从未存在的世界。

But without it, we go nowhere."

但没有了，我们哪里也去不了。”

10,000 years ago, people rarely ventured beyond their birthplace.

一万年前，人们很少冒险 离开他们的出生地。

Today we travel all over the planet.

今天他们全球旅行。

Well, at least when there's not a pandemic going on.

至少当没有疫情的时候。

Those people from 10,000 years ago

一万年前的人们

would have their minds blown by how far and wide we travel today.

会对今天我们旅行的距离 和范围大吃一惊。

And people 1,000 years in the future will look back on us

而未来1000年后的人回看我们时

and think the same thing:

也会想同样的事情：

that we would have our minds blown

我们会对他们在太阳系

by how far and wide they travel throughout the solar system.

航行的距离和范围大吃一惊。

Think about that.

想想这点。

We are the island in the vast ocean that is our galaxy.

我们在银河系的海洋中就是岛屿。

I invite you to dream big with me.

我邀请你和我一样梦想远大。

We could populate hundreds of planets, travel between worlds,

我们可以居住在数百个星球上， 在各處之间旅行，

make great new discoveries about our time and place in the universe.

对我们的时间和宇宙中的地点 有新的大发现。

You will even have an interstellar Mars address and a pen pal

你甚至会有一个星际火星地址

in the neighboring star system.

和一个在邻近星系的笔友。

Look, I want to go to Mars and see the Valles Marineris,

听着，我想去火星看水手号峡谷，

a canyon ten times the size of the Grand Canyon,

相当于大峡谷十倍大的峡谷，

that might be an international park some day.

那可能有一天会成为一个国际公园。

I want to journey to Saturn's moon, Titan,

我想去土星的卫星，土卫六，

and fly around in the low gravity with actual wings, like a bird.

在低重力中用真的翅膀飞行， 就像鸟一样。

I want to scuba dive on Europa

我想去木卫二潜水，

with Jupiter filling up most of the sky above me

木星占据了我头顶的大部分天空

and see if there's any life on the ocean floor.

去看看海底是否有生命。

I know I probably won't get to do any of those things in my lifetime,

我知道我可能无法 在有生之年做任何这些事情，

but I want someone, maybe you or your kids,

但我想要有人，可能是你或你的孩子，

to be able to do them.

能够做这些事。

I want humanity to spread out in the solar system

我想让人类在太阳系最终整个宇宙

and eventually the universe,

散播开去，

and we are getting started on making that happen right now.

我们现在就开始着手实现这一目标。

MOXIE is the first step.

MOXIE是第一步。

Next on my to-do list is scaling up MOXIE

我的下一个工作列表是规模化MOXIE

to support the first human mission to Mars.

以支持首个人类火星任务。

That's what I'm working on right now.

这是我现在正在做的工作。

We've gotten started on the list,

我们已经开始计划了，

but there are a lot of problems facing us on this journey still,

但这段旅程中仍然有很多问题，

and we could use all of your help in solving them.

我们能够使用你们的帮助解决它们。

Whether you can help from a scientific or engineering standpoint,

不管你是从科学或工程的角度提供帮助，

or simply spreading the message about the importance of space

还是简单传播太空的重要性信息

以及它如何能够以积极的方式影响地球。

and how it can impact the Earth in a positive way.

What I want you to take away from this talk,

我想让你们从演讲中记住的是，

is that this incredible vision of space exploration

这令人难以置信的太空探索

will also pay enormous benefits

在让我们的地球家园变得更健康

in making our home planet a healthier and better place to live --

和更宜居方面有很大的好处——

all while improving the odds of survival for our species.

同时也提高了人类的生存几率。

I think that's a dream worth pursuing.

我想这是一个值得追寻的梦想。

Thank you.

谢谢。