经济学人176:太空军事用途 轨道间谍卫星

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　The military uses of space

　　太空军事用途

　　Spooks in orbit

　　轨道间谍卫星

　　The other space programme

　　另类太空计划

　　DESPITE its strong inheritance of military DNA¹,

　　尽管美国航空航天局有着浓重的军事血统，

　　NASA is a civilian² agency,

　　但它仍然是一间民用机构。

　　set up that way in deliberate contrast to the military-run Soviet³ space programme.

　　它的组建方式也刻意与苏联军事太空计划形成对比。

　　In practice, the distinction is not always so clear-cut:

　　但实际上，二者之间的界线通常并不那么分明:

　　NASA has done plenty of work for the Pentagon.

　　NASA也曾为五角大楼做过大量工作。

　　But America's armed forces maintain a separate space programme of their own,

　　但美国军队却保持着自己独立的太空计划，

　　largely out of the public eye.

　　大多数不为公众所知。

　　Although hard numbers are difficult to come by,

　　尽管确切数字难以获得，

　　it is thought that the military space budget has matched or exceeded NASA's every year since 1982.

　　但据说自1982年以来，美国每年的军事空间计划预算一直等同或超过美国航空航天局的预算。

　　All the signs are that it is roaring ahead.

　　所有迹象表明，这个数字正在飙升。

　　The air force's public space budget will increase by nearly 10% next year,

　　明年，美国空军的公共空间预算将增加近10%，

　　to $8.7 billion, with much of it going on a new generation of rockets.

　　达到87亿美元，其中大部分资金将用于新一代火箭的研制。

　　Bruce Carlson, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive outfit⁴ that runs America's spy satellites,

　　美国国家军事侦察局是运作美国间谍卫星的秘密机构，

　　announced in 2010 that his agency was embarking⁵ on “the most aggressive launch schedule undertaken in the last 25 years”.

　　其主管布鲁斯?卡尔森于2010年宣布他的机构已正着手实施“过去25年间所承担的最为积极的发射计划”。

　　Much of the money goes on satellites—spy satellites for keeping tabs on other countries,

　　大部分资金将用于卫星研制，包括用于监控其它国家活动的间谍卫星、

　　communications satellites for soldiers to talk to each other, and even the Global Positioning System satellites,

　　用于士兵交谈的通讯卫星，甚至包括为士兵和轰炸提供目标导航的全球定位系统卫星，

　　designed to guide soldiers and bombs to their targets, and now expanded to aid civilian navigation.

　　现在其应用范围已扩大到援助民用导航。

　　But there are more exotic programmes.

　　但也有着更多的特殊计划。

　　The air force runs one for anti-satellite warfare⁶, designed to destroy or disable enemy birds.

　　美国空军实施了一项反卫星战计划，旨在破坏敌方卫星或令其失效。

　　Another includes experimental aircraft, such as the X-37, a cut-down, unmanned descendant of the space shuttle.

　　另一项计划则包括研制诸如X-37这样的实验飞机，它是美国航天飞机的简化及无人驾驶版本。

　　The air force will not say what the X-37 is for.

　　美国空军拒绝透露X-37的用途。

　　One theory is that it is a spy plane, designed to catch savvy⁷ targets that know how to go to ground when spy satellites—which have predictable orbits—are overhead.

　　有一种说法是X-37是一架间谍飞机，旨在捕获各种精明的目标。这些精明的目标发现间谍卫星位临上空时，能够知道如何隐蔽自己。

　　Another is that it is intended to destroy satellites, or to drop bombs from orbit.

　　另一种说法是X-37用于破坏卫星或从轨道上投掷炸弹。

　　Other nations are flexing⁸ their muscles.

　　其它国家也正显示着自己的军事实力。

　　American commanders report that China regularly fires powerful lasers into the sky, demonstrating their ability to dazzle or blind satellites.

　　美军指挥官报告说，中国定期向空中发射强力激光，展示他们有能力迷惑或致盲卫星。

　　In 2007 a Chinese missile destroyed an old weather satellite, creating a huge field of orbiting debris⁹.

　　2007年，中国的导弹摧毁了一个旧的气候卫星，产生了巨大的轨道碎片区域。

　　Afterwards, Russia spoke¹⁰ publicly about its anti-satellite weapons.

　　随后，俄国公开谈论它的反卫星武器。

　　This is one space race that is well under way.

　　这场太空竞赛正在如火如荼地展开着。

　　1.military n.军队

　　They are making further efforts to decrease military spending.

　　他们正在做进一步的努力来减少军费开支。

　　2.deliberate a.深思熟虑的；故意的

　　She has a slow, deliberate way of talking.

　　她谈话的方式缓慢而审慎。

　　3.distinction n.荣誉；差别

　　These are the highest distinctions that have ever been given by our government.

　　这些是我国政府迄今授予的最高荣誉称号。

　　4.maintain v.维持；维修；保养

　　It is absolutely vital that food supplies should be maintained.

　　维持食物的供给是绝对必要的。

　　5.budget n.预算

　　Congress has approved the new educational budget.

　　国会通过了新的教育预算。

1 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

5 embarking   

乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• He's embarking on a new career as a writer. 他即将开始新的职业生涯——当一名作家。
• The campaign on which were embarking was backed up by such intricate and detailed maintenance arrangemets. 我们实施的战争，须要如此复杂及详细的维护准备。

6 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

7 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

8 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。