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We think of Mother Nature as being warm and cuddly, and for the most part, she is.
我们认为大自然母亲是温暖可爱的，在大多数时候，她确实是这样的。
But sometimes, the savagery of Mother Nature is revealed.
但有时，大自然母亲的野性也会暴露出来。
On the Earth, 99.9% of all species eventually go extinct.
在地球上，99.9%的物种最终都会灭绝。
Extinction is the norm.
灭绝是常态。
And the laws of physics also doom the entire planet Earth.
而物理定律也注定了地球的毁灭。
Because the Earth is in the middle of a shooting gallery of asteroids and comets and meteors, it's inevitable that we will be hit with a 'planet-buster.'
由于地球位于小行星、彗星和流星的靶场中央，我们不可避免地会被“星球爆炸”袭击。
Something like what hit the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
类似于6500万年前袭击恐龙的东西。
We need an insurance policy.
我们需要一份保单。
Given the fact that Mother Nature and the laws of physics have a death warrant for humanity, we have to make sure that humans become a two-planet species, because ultimately, our destiny will be in outer space.
鉴于大自然母亲和物理定律让人类必然死亡，我们必须确保人类到达地球以外的星球上，因为最终，我们的命运将在外太空。
We have no rocket capable of reaching deep space at the present time with human passengers.
目前，我们还没有能够搭载人类到达遥远的太空的火箭。
In other words, if we're faced with yet another rock from outer space, we are basically sitting ducks.
换句话说，如果我们可能被另一块来自外太空的岩石击中，我们基本上只能坐以待毙。
However, we're entering now a new golden age of space exploration.
然而，我们现在正在进入一个新的太空探索黄金时代。
Now we have the infusion of funds from Silicon Valley billionaires.
现在，我们得到了硅谷亿万富翁的资金注入。
We have new strategies to go back into outer space.
我们有了重返外太空的新战略。
And things have changed.
而且，情况已经发生了变化。
Costs have dropped.
成本已经降下来了。
With the introduction of reusable rockets, we're now talking about opening up the heavens to perhaps a whole new economic landscape, 'cause we're now talking about dropping the cost by a factor of 10.
随着可重复使用火箭的出现，未来可能会出现全新的经济景象，因为我们说的可是把成本降低10倍。
Instead of $10,000/lb, SpaceX wants to bring it down to $1,000/lb, opening up the heavens.
SpaceX希望将价格降至1000美元/磅，而不是10000美元/磅，打开了新天地。
We also have a new vision emerging: For Elon Musk of SpaceX, it's to create a multi-planet species.
我们还有一个新的愿景：对于SpaceX的埃隆·马斯克来说，是创造一个多行星物种。
However, for Jeff Bezos of Amazon, he wants to make Earth into a park, so that all the heavy industries, all the pollution goes into outer space to make Earth a paradise.
然而，对于亚马逊的杰夫·贝佐斯来说，他想把地球变成一个公园，这样所有的重工业、所有的污染都会被转移到外太空，让地球成为天堂。
And Jeff Bezos wants to set an Amazon-type delivery system connecting the Earth to the moon.
杰夫·贝佐斯想要建立一个亚马逊式的、连接地球和月球的传送系统。
We're talking about a whole new political and technological landscape.
我们谈论的是一种全新的政治和技术格局。
Sometime in the 2030s, we will be on Mars.
在本世纪30年代的某个时间，我们将登上火星。
The question is, if we're entering a new golden age of space exploration, 'What is the main bottleneck that we face?'
问题是，如果我们正在进入太空探索的新黄金时代，“那么我们面临的主要瓶颈是什么？”
The main bottleneck has to do with life support and the human.
主要的瓶颈与生命支持和人类有关。
You see, we've already sent robots to Mars.
我们已经把机器人送上火星了。
But now, we're talking about humans, which require a whole support network.
但现在，我们谈论的是人类，这需要一套完整的支持体系。
Humans have to live in an environment where there's radiation.
人类得生活在有辐射的环境中。
Where there's loneliness.
生活在孤寂的地方。
Where the journey can take two years.
生活在去那里需要花上两年时间的地方。
Where temperatures are below freezing.
那里的温度在冰点以下。
Where the atmospheric pressure is only 1%.
那里的大气压只有1%。
And eventually, we wanna create a base on Mars that could support people.
最终，我们想在火星上建立一个可以支持人类的基地。
That means it has to be self-sustaining.
这意味着它必须能够自我维持。
It has to be done in several steps: The first step would be to create a base on Mars with power; solar power could provide the energy.
这需要分几个步骤来完成：第一步是在火星上建立一个有电力的基地；太阳能可以提供能源。
And then once you have the base set up, you have to begin the process of creating a self-sustaining agriculture there.
一旦有了基地，你就得开始在那里建立一套自给自足的农业体系。
And this means genetic engineering; creating genetically-modified algae and plants that can consume the rich, carbon dioxide atmosphere, live in a very cold environment and thrive.
这意味着基因工程；创造转基因藻类和植物，它们可以消耗丰富的二氧化碳大气，生活在非常寒冷的环境中，并茁壮成长。
Then we have to create mining operations so that we have the materials to build cities, oxygen to breathe, water to drink, and hydrogen for rocket fuel.
然后我们必须创建采矿业，这样我们就有了建造城市的材料，有了呼吸的氧气，有了饮用水，有了火箭燃料的氢气。
Then the last step in the process, and this'll take maybe another hundred years, is to send satellites orbiting around Mars to begin the process of melting the polar ice caps.
然后，这个过程的最后一步，可能还需要100年，就是发射围绕火星运行的卫星，以便融化极地的冰盖。
Now, once you raise the temperature of Mars by about six degrees, it becomes self-feeding, because the more heat you have on Mars, the more carbon dioxide you loft into the atmosphere, which creates more greenhouse effect, which allows you to melt even more ice to raise the temperature even more.
如果把火星的温度提高大约6度，它就能变得自给自足，因为火星上的热量越大，就会释放越多的二氧化碳，从而产生更多温室效应，进而融化更多冰来进一步提高温度。
So you have a positive feedback loop, and we can begin the process of terraforming Mars.
这样就形成了一个积极的反馈循环，我们就可以开始地球化火星的过程了。
A lot of it's still theoretical.
这里面有很多东西还只停留在理论层面。
We don't know for sure what it would take to go to the stars.
我们不知道什么时候才能到其他行星上。
Now, this means, of course, starships.
当然，这意味着星际飞船。
We've been brainwashed into thinking by Hollywood that a starship has to be huge and gigantic, the size of the 'Enterprise.'
我们被好莱坞洗脑了，认为一艘星际飞船必须非常巨大，就像“企业号”那样大。
However, the laws of physics make possible sending postage stamp-sized chips to the nearby stars.
然而，物理定律让我们能够将邮票大小的芯片发送到附近的恒星上。
So think of a chip, perhaps this big, on a parachute, and have thousands of them sent into outer space, energized by perhaps 800 megawatts of laser power.
想象一下，降落伞上有一个芯片，也许有这么大，然后将数千个这样的芯片送入外太空，由大约800兆瓦的激光功率提供能量。
By shooting this gigantic bank of laser energy into outer space, by energizing all these mini parachutes, you could then begin to accelerate them to about 20% the speed of light.
通过将这一巨大的激光能量发射到外太空，通过为这些迷你降落伞提供能量，就可以开始把它们加速到约20%光速的速度。
This is with doable technology today.
这是现如今可行的技术。
That means Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-like planet that circles around the closest to star to the planet Earth, could be within the range of such a device.
这意味着半人马座比邻星b，一颗绕着距离地球最近的恒星旋转的类地行星，可能就是此类装置发射范围内的目标。
What a coincidence.
多巧啊。
So it means that we've already staked out our first destination for visitation by an interstellar starship.
这意味着我们已经确定了星际飞船的第一个访问目的地。
Some of these technologies won't be available till the next 100 years.
其中一些技术要到下一个100年才会实现。
But remember, we're talking about the future of humanity- and the future of humanity, I think, could be in outer space.
但请记住，我们谈论的是人类的未来--而我认为，人类的未来可能在外太空。
