NASA前工程师加盟优步“飞车”团队

 　　Uber has hired a former Nasa engineer to help it to research flying cars.

　　优步(Uber)聘请了美国国家航空航天局(NASA)一名前工程师来协助研究飞行汽车。

　　After more than 30 years at the US space agency, Mark Moore is joining Uber’s Elevate division as its director of engineering for aviation.

　　在为NASA服务30多年后，马克?摩尔(Mark Moore)加入优步的“提升”(Elevate)部门，担任飞行工程技术总监。

　　The ride-hailing company first signalled its interest in short-range “vertical take-off and landing” (VTOL) technology in October, when it published a white paper discussing the potential for “on-demand aviation” to transform the daily commute¹.

　　去年10月，这家叫车服务公司首次表现出对于短程“垂直起降”(VTOL)技术的兴趣，当时该公司发表一份白皮书，讨论利用“按需航空服务”转变日常通勤模式的可能性。

　　Mr Moore’s research has explored how advances in robotics, autonomous² systems and electric propulsion can facilitate new kinds of small aircraft.

　　摩尔的研究探索了机器人技术、自控系统及电气推进方面的进步如何能够带来新型小型飞行器。

　　In his LinkedIn profile, Mr Moore said his research into unmanned aerial systems and personal air vehicles had the potential to “facilitate a change in aviation that within the next 20 years could be quite breathtaking in terms of impact and market cap”. In a research paper published while at Nasa, he explained: “A zero emission³, highly efficient, highly reliable, ultra-low noise VTOL capability⁴ would be a game changer compared with existing close proximity⁵ flight capabilities⁶, for both unmanned and manned applications.”

　　摩尔在自己的领英(LinkedIn)简介中写道，他对无人空中系统和个人飞行器的研究可能“带来航空技术的转变，这种转变有望在未来20年产生十分巨大的影响力和市场价值”。在一篇他任职NASA期间发表的论文中，他解释说：“与现有的短距离飞行能力（无论是无人还是载人飞行器）相比，零排放、高效率、高可靠性、极低噪声的垂直起降能力将成为游戏规则的颠覆者。”

　　Such a disruptive approach would naturally appeal to Uber, which has already brought sweeping⁷ changes to the taxi industry and is credited by some with accelerating a decline in car ownership. Uber is already investing in self-driving cars, striking partnerships⁸ with Volvo and Daimler, as well as autonomous trucks through last year’s acquisition of Otto.

　　这种颠覆性路径对优步具有天然吸引力，它不仅已经给出租车行业带来全面变化，还被有些人认为促使汽车保有量加速下降。优步已投资于自动驾驶汽车，并与沃尔沃(Volvo)和戴姆勒(Daimler)建立合作关系，去年还通过收购奥托(Otto)投资自动驾驶卡车领域。

　　Uber in its white paper last year proposed taking that work to another level, envisioning a system of “vertiports” and “vertistops” for transport between suburbs and cities and eventually within cities themselves.

　　在去年发布的白皮书中，优步提出要将这方面的工作提升至另一高度，展望了在郊区与城市间、最终在市内建立由“垂直起降机场”和“垂直起降站点”构成的交通运输系统。

　　“On-demand aviation has the potential to radically⁹ improve urban mobility¹⁰, giving people back time lost in their daily commutes,” it wrote. “Uber is close to the commute pain that citizens in cities around the world feel. We view helping¹¹ to solve this problem as core to our mission and our commitment to our rider base. Just as skyscrapers¹² allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently¹³, urban air transportation will use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate¹⁴ transportation congestion¹⁵ on the ground.”

　　“按需航空服务有可能从根本上改善城市的机动性，节省人们浪费在日常通勤上的时间，”白皮书写道。“优步深知世界各地城市居民的通勤痛苦。我们将协助解决这一问题视为我们使命和对乘客承诺的核心。正如摩天大楼可让城市以更高效率利用有限的土地，城市空中交通系统将利用三维空域缓解地面上的交通拥堵。”

　　Despite this Jetsons-like future vision, many technological¹⁶ hurdles¹⁷ are yet to be overcome, ranging from power requirements and noise to finding safe places for the flying cars to land.

　　虽然优步描绘了类似《杰森一家》(The Jetsons)的未来愿景，但是从动力需求、噪声到为飞行汽车寻找安全着陆场所，仍有许多技术障碍有待克服。

1 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

9 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

10 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

13 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

14 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

15 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

16 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

17 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句