Why Explore Space (Excerpt)

◎Ernst Stuhlinger

1970 年，赞比亚修女就给美国国家航空航天局写了一封信：“目前地球上还有这么多小孩子吃不上饭，你们怎么舍得为远在火星的项目花费数十亿美元？”本文节选自美国国家航空航天局的科学家写给她的回信。

I believe that by working for the space program I can make some contribution to the relief and eventual solution of such1)grave problems as poverty and hunger on Earth.Basic to the hunger problem are two functions:the production of food and the2)distribution of food.Food production by agriculture, cattle ranching, ocean fishing and other large-scale operations is efficient in some parts of the world, but3)drastically deficient in many others.For example, large areas of land could be utilized far better if efficient methods of watershed control, fertilizer use,weather forecasting, fertility assessment,plantation programming, field selection,planting habits, timing of cultivation, crop survey and harvest planning were applied.

The best tool for the improvement of all these functions, undoubtedly, is the artificial Earth satellite.Circling the globe at a high4)altitude, it can screen wide areas of land within a short time; it can observe and measure a large variety of factors indicating the status and condition of crops, soil,droughts, rainfall, snow cover, etc., and it can radio this information to ground stations for appropriate use.It has been estimated that even a modest system of Earth satellites equipped with Earth resources sensors, working within a program for worldwide agricultural improvements, will increase the yearly crops by an equivalent of many billions of dollars.

The distribution of the food to the needy is a completely different problem.The question is not so much one of shipping5)volume; it is one of international cooperation.The ruler of a small nation may feel very6)uneasy about the prospect of having large quantities of food shipped into his country by a large nation, simply because he fears that along with the food there may also be an import of influence and foreign power.Efficient relief from hunger, I am afraid, will not come before the7)boundaries between nations have become less divisive than they are today.I do not believe that space flight will accomplish this miracle over night.However, the space program is certainly among the most promising and powerful agents working in this direction.

Higher food production through survey and assessment from orbit, and better food distribution through improved international relations, are only two examples of how profoundly the space program will impact life on Earth.I would like to quote two other examples: stimulation of technological development, and generation of scientific knowledge.

Although our space program seems to lead us away from our Earth and out toward the moon, the sun, the planets, and the stars,I believe that none of these8)celestial objects will find as much attention and study by space scientists as our Earth.It will become a better Earth, not only because of all the new technological and scientific knowledge which we will apply to the betterment of life, but also because we are developing a far deeper appreciation of our Earth, of life, and of man.

The photograph which I enclose with this letter shows a view of our Earth as seen from Apollo 8 when it orbited the moon at Christmas, 1968.Of all the many wonderful results of the space program so far, this picture may be the most important one.It opened our eyes to the fact that our Earth is a beautiful and most precious island in an unlimited void, and that there is no other place for us to live but the thin surface layer of our planet, bordered by the bleak nothingness of space.Never before did so many people recognize how limited our Earth really is, and how perilous it would be to tamper with its ecological balance.

1) graveadj.严重的

2) distributionn.分配

3) drasticallyadv.极端地

4) altituden.海拔

5) volumen.量

6) uneasyadj.焦虑的；不安的

7) boundaryn.分界线

8) celestialadj.天空的

我相信，致力于太空计划有助于缓解乃至最终解决地球上诸如贫困与饥饿这样的严峻问题。饥饿问题的根本在于两个方面：食物生产与食物分配。通过农业、畜牧业、远洋渔业以及其他大规模生产方式进行食物生产在世界某些地区行之有效，但在其他许多地区效率极其低下。比如，如果采用更为有效的方法进行流域管理、肥料利用、天气预报、产量评估、种植规划、农田优选、种植习惯调整、耕种时间优化、农作物调查、收割规划等，那么，大面积的土地将能得到更为有效的利用。

毫无疑问，改进所有这一切的最佳工具是人造地球卫星。人造地球卫星在高空围绕地球运转，能够在短时间内扫描大面积的土地。它能够观察和测评各种各样的指标，这些指标可以显示作物生长态势、土壤状况、旱情、降雨量、降雪量等。人造卫星能将这些信息通过无线电传送到地面接收站，以便人们妥当使用。据估计，即使是一个不那么复杂的地球卫星系统，在配备有地球资源传感器的情况下，在参与改进全球农业生产的项目时，每年也将增加价值几十亿美元的粮食产量。

而将食物分发给贫困者则是一个完全不同的问题。这个问题与运送量关系不大，而是一个国际合作的问题。若让一个大国将大批食物运送到一个小国，小国统治者可能会感到十分不安，原因很简单：他担心随着食物的输入，大国的影响和势力也会乘机而入。只要国与国之间的界限仍像当今这样泾渭分明，恐怕饥饿问题就很难得到有效缓解。我并不认为太空旅行在一夜之间就能实现这一奇迹，但太空计划肯定是实现这一目标最有希望、最为强大的推动力之一。

通过卫星监测与评估来提高食物产量，以及通过改善国际关系来提高食物分配效率，这只是太空计划将如何深刻影响人类生活的两个例证。我还想举出另外两个例子：激励技术进步与产生科学知识。

虽然航天工程似乎在引领我们远离地球，飞往月亮、太阳和其他行星、恒星，但我相信，太空科学家对地球的关注和研究要远远多于对所有这些天体的关注和研究。地球将变得更加美好，这不仅仅是因为我们将用所有新的技术和科学知识来改善我们的生活，还因为我们对地球、对生命、对人类的理解在不断深化。

随信附上一张照片，这是1968 年圣诞节期间阿波罗8 号在环月飞行时所拍下的地球景象。在航天工程迄今所取得的许多伟大成果中，这张照片也许是最为宝贵的一个。它让我们看清了一个事实：在浩瀚无垠的太空中，地球是一个无比宝贵的美丽岛屿；除了地球那层薄薄的地表，我们别无栖身之所，因为我们周围是荒凉、虚空的宇宙。此前从未有那么多人意识到我们的地球资源其实是多么有限，扰乱地球的生态平衡又是多么危险。