太空垃圾威脅'連鎖反應' 它可能摧毀地球上的通信

太空垃圾威脅'連鎖反應' 它可能摧毀地球上的通信
Space junk threatens 'chain reaction' that could destroy communications on Earth
By Claire Bates
Last updated at 9:46 AM on 27th May 2010

There is so much junk whizzing around Earth that any collision in space could now cause a knock-on effect that would destroy vital satellites, according to a Pentagon report.
有如此多的垃圾圍繞地球呼嘯，在太空中的任何碰撞現在可以引起連鎖效應，將摧毀重要的衛星，據五角大樓的一份報告。
A crash between a satellite and a hunk of space junk could send thousands of pieces of debris spinning out, which could destroy other satellites.
衛星和一大塊的太空垃圾之間的碰撞，可以把幾千件碎片轉出，這可能破壞其它衛星。
Television signals, weather forecasts, global-positioning navigation and international phone connections are just some of the services at risk.
電視信號、天氣預測、全球定位導航和國際電話連接，都只是其中一些服務處於風險。
Space debris: There are around 3,000 satellites in orbit and 8,000 man-made objects as shown in this artwork.
太空碎片：大約有3,000顆衛星在軌道上和8,000件人做物體如這件作品所顯示。

The uncontrolled chain reaction could make some orbits unusable for both commercial or military satellites, according to the U.S Space Posture Review sent to Congress in March.
不受控制的鍊式反應可能使一些軌道無法為商業或軍用衛星所用，據3月提交給國會的美國太空態勢評估報告。
The report, which has not been publicly released, said space is 'increasingly congested and contested.'
報告尚未公開發表，說空間是'越來越擁擠和競爭的'。
Since the first object, Sputnik One, was launched into space 53 years ago, mankind have created a swarm of perhaps tens of millions of items of debris.
自從第一件物體Sputnik一號53年前被發射向太空，人類已創造一個也許有幾千萬項目碎片的群。
The rubbish circling the planet comes from old rockets, abandoned satellites and missile shrapnel.
環繞地球的垃圾來自舊火箭、放棄的衛星和導彈彈片。
Astronauts on the International Space Station have had to alter its direction to avoid space junk
在國際空間站的宇航員不得不改變它的方向，以避開太空垃圾

'This is almost the tipping point,' Indian rocket scientists Bharath Gopalaswamy told Bloomberg.
'No satellite can be reliably shielded against this kind of destructive force.'
The warning follows the first major crash last year between a U.S. communications satellite and a defunct Russian military probe over Siberia.
The collision at speeds of at least 15,000mph created a cloud of 1,500 pieces of space junk that the International Space Station then had to manoeuvre to avoid.
A Chinese missile test in 2007 left 150,000 pieces of junk in the atmosphere.
These two events encouraged the U.S to support the United Nations when it issued guidelines that urge companies and countries to stop cluttering Earth's orbit.
Mazlan Othman, the director of the UN's Outer Space Affairs office, said: 'Space needs policies and laws to protect the public interest.
'We should have all the instruments to make sure that lifestyles are not disrupted because of misconduct in space.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1281775/Space-junk-threatens-cause-chain-reaction-wipe-communications-Earth.html