《经济学人》双语：人类的第二家园在哪个星球上？

原文标题：
Space exploration
Lunar living
Pressurised natural caves could offer a home from home on the Moon
太空探索
月球居所
月球上的加压天然熔岩洞或是人类的第二个家园

It would make building bases a lot cheaper and easier
此方法可以大幅降低建设基地的成本，并提高建设效率

[Paragraph 1]

IMAGINE A HABITABLE colony on Mars or the Moon and the kinds of structures that come to mind are probably gleaming domes or shiny metallic tubes snaking over the surface.

想象一下火星或月球上的居住地，人们通常会想到闪闪发光的圆顶或在表面上有蜿蜒的闪亮金属管道。

But with no Earth-like atmosphere or magnetic field to repel solar radiation and micrometeorites, space colonists would probably need to pile metres-thick rocks and geological rubble onto the roofs of such off-world settlements. More like a hobbit hole than Moonbase Alpha.
但由于没有类似地球上的大气层或磁场来抵御太阳辐射和微陨石，太空居民可能需要在这样的外太空居民点的屋顶上堆积数米厚的岩石和地质碎石。这更像是霍比特洞穴而不是月球阿尔法基地。

[Paragraph 2]

There could be another solution, however, that would offer future colonists safer and far more expansive living space than any cramped base built on the surface.

然而，未来的太空居民可能有另一种解决方案，一种比地表上建造的狭小基地更安全、更宽敞的生活空间。

Writing in Acta Astronautica, Raymond Martin, an engineer at Blue Origin, a rocket company, and Haym Benaroya, an aerospace engineer at Rutgers University, explore the benefits of setting up a Moon base inside giant geological tunnels that lie just below the lunar surface.
火箭公司“蓝色起源”的工程师雷蒙德·马丁和罗格斯大学的航空航天工程师海姆·本纳罗亚在《宇航学报》上发表文章，探讨了这种方案（在月球表面下的巨大地质洞中建立月球基地）的优势。

[Paragraph 3]

First discovered during the Apollo programme, these lunar lava tubes are a legacy of when Earth’s nearest celestial neighbour was geologically hyperactive, with streams of boiling basaltic magma bursting from the interior to flow across the Moon’s surface as lava.

这些月球熔岩洞在阿波罗计划期间被首次发现，它们是地球最近的天体邻居在地质上活跃时期的遗产。当时沸腾的玄武岩岩浆从星球内部喷发到星球表面，形成了熔岩流。

Found on Earth (see picture), and identified on Mars, lava tubes form when the sluggish top layer of a lava stream slows and cools, forming a thick and rocky lid that is left behind when the rest of the lava underneath eventually drains away.
当熔岩流的缓慢表层逐渐冷却形成了厚实的岩石覆盖层，覆盖层下方的熔岩被排空，于是便形成了熔岩洞。地球（见图片）和火星上也有类似的熔岩洞。

[Paragraph 4]

Lava tubes on Earth are usually up to 15 metres wide and can run for several kilometres.

地球上的熔岩洞通常宽度可达15米，长度可达数公里。

But the reduced gravity on the Moon makes them hundreds of times bigger, creating colossal cave systems that are up to a kilometre across and hundreds of kilometres long.
但月球上的重力弱，这使月球上的熔岩洞比地球熔岩洞大数百倍，形成了宽度达1公里，长达数百公里的巨大熔洞系统。

[Paragraph 5]

Space scientists have long identified these lava caves as a likely site for human habitation on the Moon, because the thick walls and ceiling offer protection from the harsh radiation striking the Moon’s surface.

太空科学家长期以来一直将这些熔岩洞视为月球上人类居住的可能场所，因为厚实的墙壁和天花板可以保护人类居住者免受月球表面的强烈辐射。

But Mr Martin and Dr Benaroya went a step further. Rather than simply situating a Moon base inside a lava tube—domes and shiny buildings and all—they suggested that a section of such a tube could be pressurised with breathable air.

但马丁和本纳罗亚博士进一步提出，他们不仅仅建议在熔岩洞里建立月球基地——包括所有圆顶和闪亮的建筑，还建议在一段熔岩洞内增压呼吸空气。

Residents could live, work and sleep inside the pressurised tubes with no need for space suits and with plenty of spare real estate for some low-gravity recreation.

居民不需要穿太空服就可以在增压熔洞里生活、工作和睡觉，且还有大量空间做一些低重力娱乐活动。

And although the costs and details need more planning, it could end up cheaper than having to send from Earth everything needed to survive on the lunar surface.
虽然成本和细节需要更多规划，但这可能比从地球输送所有生存所需物资更加经济。

[Paragraph 6]

In their latest study, the two scientists crunched some numbers on what might be possible.

在他们最新的研究中，这两位科学家对可能性进行了一些数字上的分析。

“One of the first big hurdles there is proving that they [the lava tubes] are structurally sound,” says Mr Martin.

马丁说："其中最大的挑战之一是证明它们（熔岩洞）具有结构稳定性。"

To find out, he and Dr Benaroya built a computer model to simulate the integrity of a relatively small lava tube in the Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms), which was photographed by the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe 15 years ago.
为了验证这一点，他和本纳罗亚建立了一个计算机模型，模拟了“月球风暴之海”中一个相对较小的熔岩洞的完整性，15年前印度“月船1号”拍摄到了“风暴之洋”。

[Paragraph 7]

After checking several combinations of internal pressure and roof thickness, and whether the resulting structure was stable, the study suggested a lava tube with a roof thickness of ten metres could be safely pressurised to almost the same conditions found at sea level on Earth.

进行了多种内部压力和洞顶厚度的组合检查，以及是否产生结构稳定性，研究表明，洞顶厚度为10米的熔岩洞可以安全地承受接近于地球海平面的气压。

The scientists also showed that the overall pressure (and so the risk of roof failure) could be reduced by increasing the proportion of oxygen in the artificial air used to fill the caverns.

科学家还发现，通过增加熔岩洞里人造空气中氧气的比例，可以降低整体压力（屋顶破裂的风险也降低了）。

And given the awkwardness of moving around in a space suit, the study looked at how astronauts could get themselves and their equipment safely in and out of the tubes.

考虑到穿宇航服行动的不便，该研究还探讨了宇航员携带设备时如何安全地进出熔岩洞。

The best option, it concluded, would be to build the entrance where a wall of the lava tube had naturally collapsed open.
研究得出的结论是，最好在熔岩洞的一侧自然坍塌处建造入口。

[Paragraph 8]

Knowing that the roof will not fall in should give engineers the confidence to work on other aspects of the idea, such as how to use inflatable structures to cap the ends of a pressurised section of the tube.

知道洞顶不会塌下来，工程师就可以放心地研究其他方面，例如如何使用充气结构封住加压部分的两端。

Such membranes are already used for flood prevention in tunnels on Earth, where they can be quickly deployed to block incoming floodwater.

这样的膜已经在地球上的隧道防洪中得到应用，可以快速部署以阻止进水。

Another issue is whether the lava tube’s ceiling would be fully airtight, and if not, how to seal it to prevent leaks.

另一个问题是，熔岩洞的天花板是否完全密封，如果没有，如何密封以防止漏水。

And, of course, how to prepare humanity for a return to life in caves.
当然还有一个问题，如何让人类做好回归洞穴生活的心理准备。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量744左右）
原文出自：2023年3月18日《The Economist》Science & technology版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
"Hobbit hole"是指《魔戒》小说中霍比特人所住的穴居，也就是被称为“半身人洞穴”的地方。这些穴居通常被挖在小山丘或丘陵上，有圆形或半圆形的大门，里面设有起居室、卧室、厨房等生活空间。霍比特人在这些穴居中度过了安逸、温馨的生活。

Moonbase Alpha是一款由NASA开发的虚拟现实模拟游戏，旨在模拟在月球上建立一个基地的体验。玩家可以在游戏中扮演宇航员的角色，在月球表面和月球基地之间穿梭，进行任务和科学实验，并学习月球科学知识。该游戏于2010年首次发布。除了娱乐性，该游戏还旨在增加公众对太空探索的兴趣，并帮助教育人们有关太空科学的知识。

风暴之海Oceanus Procellarum是一个月球表面特征，是位于月球正面西侧的最大的月海之一，由熔岩填充了一片巨大的撞击盆地形成。该区域直径约为2500公里，大约形成于约38亿年前的晚雨海世。该名称来自于它常常在月球最早的地图上被描绘为一片闪烁着亮光的区域，看起来像是被风暴袭击了一样。它是一个由许多岛屿和小的月海组成的复杂地区，这些月海中的岛屿实际上是被熔岩覆盖的巨大撞击坑壁，而这些坑壁高于月海表面。

【重点句子】（3 个）
Residents could live, work and sleep inside the pressurised tubes with no need for space suits and with plenty of spare real estate for some low-gravity recreation.
居民不需要穿太空服就可以在增压熔洞里生活、工作和睡觉，且还有大量空间做一些低重力娱乐活动。

And given the awkwardness of moving around in a space suit, the study looked at how astronauts could get themselves and their equipment safely in and out of the tubes.
考虑到穿宇航服行动的不便，该研究还探讨了宇航员携带设备时如何安全地进出熔岩洞。

And, of course, how to prepare humanity for a return to life in caves.
当然还有一个问题，如何让人类做好回归洞穴生活的心理准备。