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To get some idea of this extraordinary distance
为让大家更直观地认识这段惊人的距离
and the challenge it presents,
和它所意味着的挑战
I'm going to imagine that we could hitch a ride
想象一下，如果我们能搭上
on the fastest man-made object in existence.
现存最快的人造交通工具
Voyager one was launched in 1977.
旅行者一号 1977年发射
Now over 30 years old,
30多年后的今天
it's traveled more than 13 billion miles.
它航行的路程已逾130亿英里
It's mission so far has taken it to Jupiter and Saturn.
它已完成了到木星与土星航行
By using their gravity to boost speed,
借用行星的重力作用加速
the little spacecraft has entered the record books.
这艘小型飞船已被载入了史册
It might not look fast,
或许这样看起来不快
but Voyager is racing through space at 11 miles a second.
却在以每秒十一英里的速度于宇宙中穿梭
On Earth, 11 miles a second looks like this.
在地球上，秒速十一英里是这样的
It's 39,000 miles an hour.
时速三万九千英里
At this speed, we could circle the globe one and a half times in an hour.
以此速度，我们每小时能绕地球一周半
How long would it take a spaceship
那么一艘速度达到旅行者号的飞船
traveling at Voyager's speed to get to the nearest earth-like planet, Gliese?
究竟要多久能抵达最近的类地行星葛利斯呢
The answer reveals the true scale of the cosmos.
问题的答案让我们真正见识了宇宙之浩淼
For even traveling at 11 miles a second,
即使秒速达到11英里
the journey to Gliese would still take over 350,000 years.
到达葛利斯仍需三十五万年以上
I think we have a chance to
我认为我们还是有机会
become a lasting part of the ever-changing universe
成为这瞬息万变的宇宙中永恒的一部分
and to discover what other wonders it might hold,
并去探索它的众多奥妙
but to do this, we will have to develop
但为达到这一目的，我们必须在
new technology on an enormous scale.
科技发展上跨出一大步
And that's going to take some serious engineering.
而这将需开启巨大的工程
There are many in the field of cosmology who believe as I do,
宇宙学领域有观点与我一致的众多专家
that finding ways to travel great distances
认为找出一种在太空远距离航行的方法
will be essential to keeping human life amazing in the universe.
是让人类在宇宙中幸存的关键
If we could build a machine
如果我们能建造一台机器
capable of traveling to other solar systems,
在其他太阳系中穿梭
we would open up a fascinating possibility.
我们将开创一种美好的可能
The survival of the human race for billions of years.
即人类在数亿年后依然幸存
