評論
打印
Present day engineers have
目前，工程師們
begun thinking about the principals of building such a ship.
已開始苦心研究如何建造出這樣的飛船
This is what it might look like.
它看上去可能是這樣的
It could use atomic energy
它可能會用到核能
or perhaps more exotic fuel such as antimatter
或更高能的燃料，如反物質
supplying it with enormous amounts of power,
用其產生的巨大能量供給機器加速
yet I think the main challenges won't be technical.
但我認為，真正的挑戰并非科技
The first will be financial.
首要難題是資金
The cost of constructing an interstellar spacecraft would be huge
構建這樣一艘宇宙飛船耗資巨大
and for the society that made it, there would be little pay back.
而籌建它的社會幾乎沒有任何回報
They would never see it again.
他們永不會再見到它
So constructing such a machine will
因此，建造這樣一臺機器
either be the greatest act of generosity in history
或成為人類歷史上最無私的奉獻
or will have to be funded by the travelers themselves.
或只能留給探索者自己去籌資
And that raises the second problem.
如此一來，第二個難題又來了
Even if it could travel mind numbingly fast,
即使它能以讓人頭暈目眩的速度航行
say 1,000 times faster than Voyager,
比如千倍于旅行者號
11,000 miles a second,
即秒速11000英里
a journey to the nearest star system would still take
這樣到達最近的星系依然需要
73 years.
73年
Such a long trip means that at least one whole generation of humans
如此長距離的航行意味著至少一代人
would have to live their entire lives in space.
需要在宇宙中度過他們的一生
We couldn't exactly say they volunteered for the mission.
而我們還不能肯定，他們是否情愿
The ethics of sending a human cargo on such a voyage
從倫理角度講，把人送上這樣一艘飛船
would have to be carefully considered.
必須經過周密的考慮
Unless we could extend human lifespans to long enough to
除非我們能夠延長人類的壽命
make such massive journeys.
來完成這項重大的使命
And that I think is what we will ultimately end up doing.
我想，這很可能是我們最后的解決途徑
The process has already begun as I know from personal experience.
據我的個人經驗，這一工程已經啟動
My muscles no longer function,
我的肌肉已經萎縮
although my eyes and my brain are still working pretty well.
只有眼睛和大腦還能正常運作
But technology helps me to move and communicate.
但現代科技讓我能夠移動和與人交流
In the future,
在未來
technology will do much more than that for all of us.
科技將帶給我們的遠不止于此
