原文標(biāo)題：
Space exploration
Lunar living
Pressurised natural caves could offer a home from home on the Moon
太空探索
月球居所
月球上的加壓天然熔巖洞或是人類的第二個(gè)家園

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

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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，人們通常會(huì)想到閃閃發(fā)光的圓頂或在表面上有蜿蜒的閃亮金屬管道。

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.
但由于沒(méi)有類似地球上的大氣層或磁場(chǎng)來(lái)抵御太陽(yáng)輻射和微隕石，太空居民可能需要在這樣的外太空居民點(diǎn)的屋頂上堆積數(shù)米厚的巖石和地質(zhì)碎石。這更像是霍比特洞穴而不是月球阿爾法基地。

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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，未來(lái)的太空居民可能有另一種解決方案，一種比地表上建造的狹小基地更安全、更寬敞的生活空間。

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“藍(lán)色起源”的工程師雷蒙德·馬丁和羅格斯大學(xué)的航空航天工程師海姆·本納羅亞在《宇航學(xué)報(bào)》上發(fā)表文章，探討了這種方案（在月球表面下的巨大地質(zhì)洞中建立月球基地）的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

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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.

這些月球熔巖洞在阿波羅計(jì)劃期間被首次發(fā)現(xiàn)，它們是地球最近的天體鄰居在地質(zhì)上活躍時(shí)期的遺產(chǎn)。當(dāng)時(shí)沸騰的玄武巖巖漿從星球內(nèi)部噴發(fā)到星球表面，形成了熔巖流。

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.
當(dāng)熔巖流的緩慢表層逐漸冷卻形成了厚實(shí)的巖石覆蓋層，覆蓋層下方的熔巖被排空，于是便形成了熔巖洞。地球（見(jiàn)圖片）和火星上也有類似的熔巖洞。

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

地球上的熔巖洞通常寬度可達(dá)15米，長(zhǎng)度可達(dá)數(shù)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，這使月球上的熔巖洞比地球熔巖洞大數(shù)百倍，形成了寬度達(dá)1公里，長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)百公里的巨大熔洞系統(tǒng)。

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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.

太空科學(xué)家長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直將這些熔巖洞視為月球上人類居住的可能場(chǎng)所，因?yàn)楹駥?shí)的墻壁和天花板可以保護(hù)人類居住者免受月球表面的強(qiáng)烈輻射。

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.

但馬丁和本納羅亞博士進(jìn)一步提出，他們不僅僅建議在熔巖洞里建立月球基地——包括所有圓頂和閃亮的建筑，還建議在一段熔巖洞內(nèi)增壓呼吸空氣。

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壓熔洞里生活、工作和睡覺(jué)，且還有大量空間做一些低重力娛樂(lè)活動(dòng)。

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.
雖然成本和細(xì)節(jié)需要更多規(guī)劃，但這可能比從地球輸送所有生存所需物資更加經(jīng)濟(jì)。

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

在他們最新的研究中，這兩位科學(xué)家對(duì)可能性進(jìn)行了一些數(shù)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.

馬丁說(shuō)："其中最大的挑戰(zhàn)之一是證明它們（熔巖洞）具有結(jié)構(gòu)穩(wěn)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.
為了驗(yàn)證這一點(diǎn)，他和本納羅亞建立了一個(gè)計(jì)算機(jī)模型，模擬了“月球風(fēng)暴之海”中一個(gè)相對(duì)較小的熔巖洞的完整性，15年前印度“月船1號(hào)”拍攝到了“風(fēng)暴之洋”。

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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.

進(jìn)行了多種內(nèi)部壓力和洞頂厚度的組合檢查，以及是否產(chǎn)生結(jié)構(gòu)穩(wěn)定性，研究表明，洞頂厚度為10米的熔巖洞可以安全地承受接近于地球海平面的氣壓。

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.

科學(xué)家還發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過(guò)增加熔巖洞里人造空氣中氧氣的比例，可以降低整體壓力（屋頂破裂的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)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.

考慮到穿宇航服行動(dòng)的不便，該研究還探討了宇航員攜帶設(shè)備時(shí)如何安全地進(jìn)出熔巖洞。

The best option, it concluded, would be to build the entrance where a wall of the lava tube had naturally collapsed open.
研究得出的結(jié)論是，最好在熔巖洞的一側(cè)自然坍塌處建造入口。

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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.

知道洞頂不會(huì)塌下來(lái)，工程師就可以放心地研究其他方面，例如如何使用充氣結(jié)構(gòu)封住加壓部分的兩端。

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

這樣的膜已經(jīng)在地球上的隧道防洪中得到應(yīng)用，可以快速部署以阻止進(jìn)水。

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

另一個(gè)問(wèn)題是，熔巖洞的天花板是否完全密封，如果沒(méi)有，如何密封以防止漏水。

And, of course, how to prepare humanity for a return to life in caves.
當(dāng)然還有一個(gè)問(wèn)題，如何讓人類做好回歸洞穴生活的心理準(zhǔn)備。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量744左右）
原文出自：2023年3月18日《The Economist》Science & technology版塊。

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
"Hobbit hole"是指《魔戒》小說(shuō)中霍比特人所住的穴居，也就是被稱為“半身人洞穴”的地方。這些穴居通常被挖在小山丘或丘陵上，有圓形或半圓形的大門，里面設(shè)有起居室、臥室、廚房等生活空間?；舯忍厝嗽谶@些穴居中度過(guò)了安逸、溫馨的生活。

Moonbase Alpha是一款由NASA開(kāi)發(fā)的虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)模擬游戲，旨在模擬在月球上建立一個(gè)基地的體驗(yàn)。玩家可以在游戲中扮演宇航員的角色，在月球表面和月球基地之間穿梭，進(jìn)行任務(wù)和科學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)，并學(xué)習(xí)月球科學(xué)知識(shí)。該游戲于2010年首次發(fā)布。除了娛樂(lè)性，該游戲還旨在增加公眾對(duì)太空探索的興趣，并幫助教育人們有關(guān)太空科學(xué)的知識(shí)。

風(fēng)暴之海Oceanus Procellarum是一個(gè)月球表面特征，是位于月球正面西側(cè)的最大的月海之一，由熔巖填充了一片巨大的撞擊盆地形成。該區(qū)域直徑約為2500公里，大約形成于約38億年前的晚雨海世。該名稱來(lái)自于它常常在月球最早的地圖上被描繪為一片閃爍著亮光的區(qū)域，看起來(lái)像是被風(fēng)暴襲擊了一樣。它是一個(gè)由許多島嶼和小的月海組成的復(fù)雜地區(qū)，這些月海中的島嶼實(shí)際上是被熔巖覆蓋的巨大撞擊坑壁，而這些坑壁高于月海表面。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3?個(gè)）
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壓熔洞里生活、工作和睡覺(jué)，且還有大量空間做一些低重力娛樂(lè)活動(dòng)。

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.
考慮到穿宇航服行動(dòng)的不便，該研究還探討了宇航員攜帶設(shè)備時(shí)如何安全地進(jìn)出熔巖洞。

And, of course, how to prepare humanity for a return to life in caves.
當(dāng)然還有一個(gè)問(wèn)題，如何讓人類做好回歸洞穴生活的心理準(zhǔn)備。