【TED演讲稿】如何为火星上的人类建设

TED演讲者：Melodie Yashar / 麦乐迪·亚沙尔

演讲标题：How to build for human life on Mars / 如何为火星上的人类建设

内容概要：We're going to be building on the Moon this decade -- and next will be Mars, says space architect Melodie Yashar. In a visionary talk, she introduces her work designing off-world shelters with autonomous robots and 3D printers and explores how it might help uncover radical solutions to some of the problems troubling humans on Earth today.

太空建筑师麦乐迪·亚沙尔（Melodie Yashar）认为，最近十年，我们将在月球上开始建设，下一个就是火星。在这个目光长远的演讲中，她介绍了她利用自主机器人和 3D 打印机建设外太空栖息地的工作，探索了这将如何为我们带来如今困扰地球上的人类的问题的大胆解决方案。

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【1】Let's imagine together we've gone on an eight-month journey and arrived to the planet Mars.

我们一起来想象一下, 我们踏上了长达八个月的旅途, 来到了火星。 没错,就是火星。

【2】Yes, Mars.

【3】Somehow we'll have to figure out how to build protective and durable structures to shield us against solar radiation, galactic cosmic rays and extreme temperatures swings.

我们得搞明白 如何建造耐久的防护建筑, 保护我们免受太阳辐射、 宇宙射线和温度剧变的伤害。

【4】On a Mars mission, there's only so much that we can bring with us from Earth.

探索火星之时, 我们能从地球带走的东西十分有限。

【5】And it's prohibitively expensive to launch tons and tons of construction materials into space.

将成吨的建筑材料发射升空, 价格十分高昂。

【6】So to realize a pioneering habitat that progressively grows, adapts and expands into a permanent outpost, we have to think differently about how we build.

如果我们想要 找到一个全新的栖息地, 让其逐渐发展、 调整、扩张成一个永久基地, 我们需要在建造方式上 “不同凡想”。

【7】These habitats and the robots that build them will enable humanity to thrive off-world.

这些新家园和建造它们的机器人 可以让人类的繁荣延伸至宇宙。

【8】I am a space architect.

我是一名太空建筑师。

【9】I design and conceive habitats supporting human exploration in deep space, like on the surface of Mars.

我设计规划我们未来的栖息地, 让人类可以探索外太空, 比如火星表面。

【10】Not only do I design spaces for optimal crew health and performance, but I also investigate what these habitats are and how they're going to be built.

我不仅会为乘组的健康 和状态设计最佳空间, 还会研究这些栖息地是什么, 如何建造。

【11】Now, Mars is so far from us that communications delays can take up to 22 minutes one way to or from Earth.

火星与我们相隔“千”里, 与地球之间的单程 通信延迟可达 22 分钟。

【12】And what that means is that we can't rely on real-time telerobotics controlled by people on Earth to supervise what happens in construction on Mars or for that matter, to supervise anything that happens when we're exploring the planet.

这就意味着, 我们无法使用实时遥控机器人, 由地球上的人员操控, 监控火星上的施工进程, 或者监控我们探索火星时 发生的任何事。

【13】But if we leverage autonomous robotics, we'll send 3D printers and other construction robots to build protective habitats and shelters before the crew even arrives.

但是如果我们考虑使用自主机器人, 就可以把 3D 打印机 和其他工程机器人先送过去, 在人员抵达之前, 建造防护设施和住所。

【14】So how exactly would 3D printers build a habitat on Mars?

3D 打印机 如何在火星上创造家园呢？

【15】Well, first we have to figure out what these structures are made out of.

首先,我们得搞清楚 这些建筑都由什么材料构成。

【16】Just like early civilizations, will use in situ regolith, commonly known as dirt, and other resources that are local and indigenous to the planet, including water,

如同早期文明会 利用原有的风化层, 即我们熟知的“泥土”, 以及该星球其他的本地原生资源, 包括水,

【17】and possibly combine them with additives and binders that we bring from Earth to engineer high-performance construction materials.

也许加上一些从地球带来的 添加剂和粘合剂, 由此制造出高性能建筑材料。

【18】Our goal when we're designing these habitats is to introduce an airtight structure that can withstand internal pressurization, which is what will allow people to live in a breathable and temperate environment on the inside.

我们设计栖息地的目标是 设计出一种可以承受 内部增压的密闭结构, 让人类可以在可呼吸、 温和的内部环境中生存。

【19】The robots that we deploy on Mars will need to perceive and interpret the complexity of a construction site in order to sequence and choreograph different types of tasks.

我们部署在火星上的机器人 必须监测、解析 建筑工地上的复杂情况, 然后进行不同任务的排序和协调。

【20】These tasks will include prospecting Mars and surveying for a site to build, collecting raw materials, processing those materials and maneuvering them around.

这些任务包括勘探火星、 选择建设地点、 收集原材料、 处理材料、运输材料。

【21】Some of these bots might resemble the character Wall-E, except, you know, not so cute.

有些机器人可能会 长得像瓦力（Wall-E）, 但是没有那么可爱。

【22】Once the site has been excavated and foundations are printed, these structures are manufactured layer by layer by layer.

工地动工、地基设计完成之后, 这些结构就会被 一层一层地搭建起来。

【23】And as construction progresses, prebuilt and preintegrated hardware like airlocks or life support equipment brought from Earth are inserted into the print until finally they're sealed at various connection points.

随着项目进展, 预先建造和组装的硬件, 如从地球带来的 气密舱和救生设备, 会被纳入建筑设计, 直至被安装固定在 不同的连接点上。

【24】To do more than just survive in space, we need to create environments that positively contribute to well-being for months and years into the future.

我们要做的不仅仅是 在太空中活下来, 还要创造在未来岁月中 对健康有益的环境。

【25】And as more civilian astronauts travel to space, it's important that our environments are more than the tightly packed mechanical interiors of the International Space Station, which today represents the state of the art for long-duration human life in space.

越来越多的平民航天员 会进入太空, 意味着我们的环境必须 达到比国际空间站的 紧凑机械内设 更高的水准, 如今,国际空间站代表着 人类在太空中 长时间生活的最佳环境。

【26】We also want to incorporate practical architectural elements such as access to natural light through windows and greenery.

我们还想加入一些实用建筑元素, 比如透过窗户的自然光源和绿化。

【27】These were features that were missing aboard the space station when it was first commissioned, but which we know are critical to positive psychological functioning and well-being.

这些都是空间站在首次发射时 没有设计的功能, 但是我们都知道它们 对人类积极的心理功能 和健康都是至关重要的。

【28】For long duration missions in deep space, it's important that crew members feel less like they're living in a machine and more like they're living in a home.

航天员在外太空执行 长时间的太空任务, 我们不能让他们感觉 生活在一个机器里, 而是应该让他们有家的感觉。

【29】There are other ways of approaching habitat construction on Mars.

我们还有其他办法 解决火星上的家园建设问题。

【30】Hard-shell or inflatable structures may not provide the radiation protection that we need, and living underground in lava tubes doesn't quite support direct surface exploration on the planet.

硬壳或充气结构 可能无法提供我们所需的 防辐射保护层, 住在地下的熔岩管道里 不太利于我们对 星球表面的直接探索。

【31】And also, why would you travel for eight months to live underground?

而且你花了八个月来到这里, 难道还要住在地下吗？

【32】Designing structures in space is all about mitigating risks and the habitats that we create will need to be the most durable and the most resilient structures ever conceived.

设计太空中的结构 关键在于减少风险, 我们建设的栖息地必须是 有史以来最耐久、 最坚韧的建筑。

【33】Future off-world surface habitats will be self-regulating and self-maintained structures to support the crew members while they're there, but also to operate autonomously when they are not.

未来外太空表面上的建筑 一定会有自我调节、 自主修复的功能, 在人员到来时提供支持, 在人员离开时自主运行。

【34】Before we send anyone to Mars, we need data to answer some very key questions about human health, safety, and to validate each of these construction activities.

在我们把人送上火星之前, 我们需要一些数据来 回答几个关于 人类健康和安全的关键问题, 还要验证每一个建设项目。

【35】Fortunately for us, we have a testbed and a proving ground much, much closer to Earth.

幸运的是, 我们有一个离地球近得多的 试验台和试验场。

【36】That's our own Moon.

那就是我们的月球。

【37】Today we're working with NASA to demonstrate how we'll 3D-print infrastructure like landing pads, roadways and eventually habitats directly on the lunar surface.

我们现在正与美国国家 航空航天局（NASA）合作, 证明如何 3D 打印出基建, 如停机坪、道路和直接建在 月球表面的住所。

【38】The Moon is a critical pit stop to refuel, resupply and serve as a general platform for vehicles traveling to deep space, and we'll use the technologies establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon to travel to, from and operate on the surface of Mars.

月球是一个关键的停靠站, 提供燃料补给,补充供给, 为飞向外太空的航天器 提供一个通用平台, 我们将利用科技让人类 永久存续于月球表面之上, 穿梭于月球和火星之间, 并在火星表面进行工程。

【39】What else are we doing to advance the viability of 3D printing for building in space?

我们还做了一些什么, 提高在太空中

【40】Well, for one thing, we can demonstrate that 3D-printed structures can support people in a mission-like environment right here on Earth, and use data from those experiments to set standards and requirements for future Mars missions.

首先, 我们可以证明 3D 打印的建筑 可以支持人类在地球上的 类似环境中执行任务, 利用这些实验的数据 为未来的火星任务 设定标准和要求。

【41】This is what we did in designing and building Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed analog habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, referred to as the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog -- that's a really long name, I know --

我们在设计建造阿尔法火星山丘 （Mars Dune Alpha）时 阿尔法火星山丘是一个 3D 打印的模拟栖息地, 项目名为 “乘员健康和性能探索模拟” 这名字太长了,没错,

【42】this structure will house four volunteer crew members simulating a one-year mission to Mars, including a 20-minute communications delay.

这个设施将容纳四名乘员志愿者, 模拟为期一年的火星任务, 包括 20 分钟的通信时延。

【43】The first mission is kicking off later this year, but you could actually apply to be a crew member in this habitat sometime in the future.

第一个任务将于今年稍晚时启动, 但是有朝一日, 你真的可以申请成为 这个栖息地的一位乘员。

【44】Or if you're not so inclined, you can suggest it to someone else in the name of research.

如果你比较勉强, 你也可以以研究的名义 把它推荐给别人。

【45】(Laughter) If you're one of the chosen few, you'll be sharing 1700 square feet of living and working areas with three others, and that includes an aeroponic garden for plant growth, a communications area, an exercise room,

（笑声） 如果你成为了入选的天之骄子, 你将与另外三人共享 1700 平方英尺的生活和工作空间, 包括种植用的气培花园、 交流空间、健身房、

【46】as well as individual crew cabins that are very cozy, just six by 12 feet.

非常舒适的独立座舱, 面积为 6 × 12 英尺。

【47】Some of you may be thinking, "Well, building in space, this is a topic pretty far removed from our day-to-day lives.

有些人可能会想: “嗯,太空施工, 与我们的日常生活 风马牛不相及。

【48】How might it impact what we do on Earth today?

怎么会影响我们现在 在地球上做的事呢？”

【49】In my experience, designing for an extreme environment that is the most restrictive and that presents the most constraints, and which literally no human has ever gone before,

凭我的经验, 为极端环境做设计, 这种环境限制很多,条件严苛, 以前从未有任何人类涉足于此,

【50】is what gives us the best chances of creatively engineering solutions to problems here on Earth that seem completely beyond our grasp today.

但是,正是这样的环境 给了我们一个绝佳机会, 让我们可以巧妙地解决地球上 一些目前看似超出 我们能力范围的问题。

【51】Problems like housing solutions for the chronically homeless or hurricane and disaster relief housing.

比如为长期流浪者提供住房问题, 飓风、救灾临时住所。

【52】Or rethinking sustainable practices within construction overall, which, according to the UN, is responsible for up to 30 percent of carbon emissions worldwide.

重新考虑施工过程中的 可持续实践, 据联合国, 占据了全球碳排放的近 30%。

【53】The autonomous technologies that we develop for building in space redound to us on Earth.

我们为太空施工开发的自主技术 也可以让地球上的人们受益。

【54】They feed back and pay dividends to how we reimagine and reconceive construction happening today.

这些技术反馈、助益我们 重新构建、设想当今的施工过程。

【55】The fact of the matter is that the most habitable planet is the one we live on right now.

重要的是最适合居住的星球 就是我们现在身处的星球。

【56】I don't like treating space like it's a lifeboat for humanity from an ailing planet Earth.

我不想把太空看作人类的救生船, 逃离病危的地球。

【57】We can either solve for how to build smarter and more sustainably today, or we'll have to think about designing for survival on an Earth more extreme and more foreign than any of us have ever known.

我们现在得解决如何更智慧、 更可持续地进行建设, 或者思考如何在未来更极端、 陌生的地球上 为生存做计划。

【58】And this to me cannot be the primary reason or driver why we explore and venture into deep space.

对我来说,这不应该是我们 探索深入外太空的主要理由和驱动。

【59】It's been over 50 years since any human has traveled outside of Earth's orbit.

人类飞越地球轨道 已经过去了超过 50 年的时间。

【60】Things are about to change.

该发生一些改变了。

【61】We will develop a permanent Moon base, and we will build autonomously on Mars.

我们将建设一个永久的月球基地, 并在火星上自主建设。

【62】We are on the cusp of seeing radical transformation and how we build on Earth and how we push past limits to a new frontier of human exploration in space.

巨变近在眼前, 我们将改变地球上的建设方式, 如何超越极限, 到达人类太空探索的新境界。

【63】Thank you so much.

谢谢大家。

【64】(Applause)