美国有线新闻 CNN 欧洲航天局拟2025年发射机器人清理太空垃圾（在线收听）

The European Space Agency is taking steps toward cleaning up a junkyard — the one that surrounds and orbits Earth. Since the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957, people have sent a lot of stuff into orbit and beyond. And they've left behind a lot of junk in the process.

In fact, European scientists say that if we quit launching stuff into space all together — and we won't — the amount of space junk will still increase because of existing pieces smashing into each other. Clear Space One is the name of a mission that will use a four armed robot in an effort to clean up space.

It will be on the hunt for part of the European rocket that was left in space in 2013. If everything works as planned, the robot will target the rocket part, latch onto it and then reenter Earth's atmosphere where everything will burn up. And if the mission's a success, more like it will be planned for bigger objects. This won't happen soon though. The official launch date is set for 2025. But with so much garbage floating around up there, the Clear Space founder says there are more than 3,000 failed satellites in orbit. Supporters say the time is right for projects like this and the others in development worldwide.

英国航天局将采取措施清理一个垃圾场，该垃圾场环绕地球并围绕地球运行。自苏联在1957年发射首个人造卫星以来，人们将大量卫星送入了轨道和周围。这一过程产生了许多垃圾。

事实上，欧洲科学家表示，如果我们停止向太空发射航天器——显然我们并不会这样做——那太空垃圾的数量仍会继续增加，因为现存垃圾碎片会互相碰撞。一项名为“太空清理一号”的任务计划用一个四臂机器人清理太空。

机器人将寻找2013年留在太空的欧洲火箭。如果一切按计划进行，那机器人将瞄准火箭零件，抓住它然后重新进入地球大气层，在那里两个装置都会被摧毁。如果这项任务成功，他们计划清理更大的物体。不过这在近期不会发生。正式发射时间定在2025年。不过由于漂浮的垃圾太多，“清理太空”公司的创始人表示，可能有超过3000颗在轨报废卫星。支持者表示，现在是在全球范围内开展这类任务和其他任务的合适时机。