Why Explore Space (Excerpt)

◎Ernst Stuhlinger

1970 年，贊比亞修女就給美國國家航空航天局寫了一封信：“目前地球上還有這么多小孩子吃不上飯，你們怎么舍得為遠在火星的項目花費數十億美元？”本文節選自美國國家航空航天局的科學家寫給她的回信。

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.嚴重的

2) distributionn.分配

3) drasticallyadv.極端地

4) altituden.海拔

5) volumen.量

6) uneasyadj.焦慮的；不安的

7) boundaryn.分界線

8) celestialadj.天空的

我相信，致力于太空計劃有助于緩解乃至最終解決地球上諸如貧困與饑餓這樣的嚴峻問題。饑餓問題的根本在于兩個方面：食物生產與食物分配。通過農業、畜牧業、遠洋漁業以及其他大規模生產方式進行食物生產在世界某些地區行之有效，但在其他許多地區效率極其低下。比如，如果采用更為有效的方法進行流域管理、肥料利用、天氣預報、產量評估、種植規劃、農田優選、種植習慣調整、耕種時間優化、農作物調查、收割規劃等，那么，大面積的土地將能得到更為有效的利用。

毫無疑問，改進所有這一切的最佳工具是人造地球衛星。人造地球衛星在高空圍繞地球運轉，能夠在短時間內掃描大面積的土地。它能夠觀察和測評各種各樣的指標，這些指標可以顯示作物生長態勢、土壤狀況、旱情、降雨量、降雪量等。人造衛星能將這些信息通過無線電傳送到地面接收站，以便人們妥當使用。據估計，即使是一個不那么復雜的地球衛星系統，在配備有地球資源傳感器的情況下，在參與改進全球農業生產的項目時，每年也將增加價值幾十億美元的糧食產量。

而將食物分發給貧困者則是一個完全不同的問題。這個問題與運送量關系不大，而是一個國際合作的問題。若讓一個大國將大批食物運送到一個小國，小國統治者可能會感到十分不安，原因很簡單：他擔心隨著食物的輸入，大國的影響和勢力也會乘機而入。只要國與國之間的界限仍像當今這樣涇渭分明，恐怕饑餓問題就很難得到有效緩解。我并不認為太空旅行在一夜之間就能實現這一奇跡，但太空計劃肯定是實現這一目標最有希望、最為強大的推動力之一。

通過衛星監測與評估來提高食物產量，以及通過改善國際關系來提高食物分配效率，這只是太空計劃將如何深刻影響人類生活的兩個例證。我還想舉出另外兩個例子：激勵技術進步與產生科學知識。

雖然航天工程似乎在引領我們遠離地球，飛往月亮、太陽和其他行星、恒星，但我相信，太空科學家對地球的關注和研究要遠遠多于對所有這些天體的關注和研究。地球將變得更加美好，這不僅僅是因為我們將用所有新的技術和科學知識來改善我們的生活，還因為我們對地球、對生命、對人類的理解在不斷深化。

隨信附上一張照片，這是1968 年圣誕節期間阿波羅8 號在環月飛行時所拍下的地球景象。在航天工程迄今所取得的許多偉大成果中，這張照片也許是最為寶貴的一個。它讓我們看清了一個事實：在浩瀚無垠的太空中，地球是一個無比寶貴的美麗島嶼；除了地球那層薄薄的地表，我們別無棲身之所，因為我們周圍是荒涼、虛空的宇宙。此前從未有那么多人意識到我們的地球資源其實是多么有限，擾亂地球的生態平衡又是多么危險。