‘Gas station in space’: new plan to make rocket fuel from junk in Earth’s orbit
“太空加油站”：地球轨道垃圾变废为宝
Australian company joins global effort to recycle dangerous space debris
澳洲公司加入全球行列，回收危险太空垃圾
An Australian company is part of an international effort to recycle dangerous space junk into rocket fuel – in space.
作为国际行列的一员，一家澳洲公司从事回收危险太空垃圾并在太空中将其转变为火箭燃料。
The orbit our planet depends on is getting clogged with debris from old spacecraft.
地球所依赖的轨道上，充斥着越来越多的废旧航天器残骸。
Dead satellites and spent rocket parts are whizzing around at speeds of up to 28,000 kilometres an hour, posing a threat to communications satellites and the International Space Station.
弃置的卫星以及废旧的火箭部件正以每小时高达28000千米的速度绕地球移动，这给通讯卫星以及国际空间站带来威胁。
At those speeds, even a small screw or a fleck of paint poses a risk to facilities such as the ISS, as well as the humans in them.
这样的速度之下，甚至是个小螺丝或油漆碎片也给诸如国际空间站等设备，以及其中的人类带来威胁。
Last weekend, Russia fired a missile and destroyed one of its own satellites, sending debris flying.
上周末，俄罗斯发射导弹摧毁了自家的卫星，太空中又多了漂浮残骸垃圾。
The United States said that debris now “threatens the interests of all nations”.
美国表示该残骸垃圾现在“威胁所有国家的利益”。
The worst-case scenario is cascading collisions between smaller and smaller bits of space junk until orbits become unusable, a situation known as the Kessler Effect.
最坏的情况下，太空垃圾在连锁碰撞之下碎片会越来越小，愈来愈密，最终整个地球轨道将无法使用，也就是所说的凯斯勒效应。
South Australian company Neumann Space has developed an “in-space electric propulsion system” that can be used in low Earth orbit to extend the missions of spacecraft, move satellites, or de-orbit them.
南澳大利亚公司诺伊曼太空（音译）开发了“太空内电力推进系统”，该系统可以用在近地球轨道中，来延长航天器的飞行任务期、移动卫星或是其脱离轨道。
Now Neumann is working on a plan with three other companies to turn space junk into fuel for that propulsion system.
现在诺伊曼公司正与其他三家公司一同研究计划，将太空垃圾转化为推进系统的燃料。
Japanese start-up Astroscale has already demonstrated how it can use satellites to capture bits of debris in space.
日本初创企业Astroscale已经演示了其如何使用卫星来捕获太空中的垃圾碎片。
Nanorocks, in the US, is working on a plan using advanced robotics to store and cut up that debris while it is still in orbit.
美国公司Nanorocks正研究计划，使用先进机器人科学来存储并切割仍在轨道中的太空残骸。
Another US company, Cislunar, is developing a space foundry to melt debris into metal rods.
另一家美国公司Cislunar，正在开发太空铸造厂，将太空垃圾熔化并转化成金属棒。
And Neumann Space’s propulsion system can use those metal rods as fuel – their system ionises the metal which then creates thrust to move objects around orbit.
诺伊曼太空的推进系统则可以使用上述金属棒为燃料——该系统使金属棒离子化，从而创造动力，推动物体绕轨道移动。
Chief executive officer Herve Astier said when Neumann was approached to be part of a supply chain to melt metal in space, he thought it was a futuristic plan, and would not be “as easy as it looks”.
首席执行官赫维·阿斯捷表示，之前有人主动找到并邀请诺伊曼太空公司，参与太空金属熔化的供应链中，他当时认为这是天方夜谭，而且不会“像看起来那么简单”。
“But they got a grant from Nasa so we built a prototype and it works,” he said.
他又表示，“但是他们从美国国家航空航天局得到了资金拨款，所以我们就建造了系统原型，而且是可行的。”
“One can grab a piece of debris, one can cut the debris open, one can melt the debris, and we can use that.”
“其中一部分捕获垃圾碎片，一部分切削垃圾碎片，一部分熔化碎片，之后我们对其加以使用。”
Once objects are sent into orbit, they can be there forever unless they float out of orbit (de-orbit) and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere (or occasionally hit Earth’s surface).
一旦物体被发射进入轨道，除非飘离轨道（脱轨）并在地球大气层中燃尽（有时也会撞击地球表面），这些物体将永远留在轨道中。
Recycling the junk, instead of capturing it or destroying it, is another dimension again.
回收垃圾，而非捕获以及销毁垃圾，是另外一个维度。
“It’s like developing a gas station in space.”
“就像是在太空中建加油站。”
