Let's imagine together we've gone on an eight-month journey and arrived to the planet Mars. Yes, Mars. Somehow we'll have to figure out how to build protective and durable structures to shield us against solar radiation, galactic cosmic rays and extreme temperatures swings. On a Mars mission, there's only so much that we can bring with us from Earth. And it's prohibitively expensive to launch tons and tons of construction materials into space.
一起來想像我們經歷了八個月的旅程, 來到火星。 沒錯,就是火星。 現在我們必須想辦法 建造耐用的防護設施, 保護我們免受太陽輻射、宇宙射線 和極端的溫差。 在火星任務中,我們只能從地球 帶去一些東西, 因為得花驚人的費用 才能把好幾噸重的建材送到太空。
So to realize a pioneering habitat that progressively grows, adapts and expands into a permanent outpost, we have to think differently about how we build. These habitats and the robots that build them will enable humanity to thrive off-world.
為了要建造一個開創性的居所, 逐步擴增、改良, 並發展成永久的前哨站, 我們必須在建築工法上有創新的想法。 有了這些居所及建造的機器人, 人類就可以在外太空蓬勃發展。
I am a space architect. I design and conceive habitats supporting human exploration in deep space, like on the surface of Mars. Not only do I design spaces for optimal crew health and performance, but I also investigate what these habitats are and how they're going to be built.
我是太空建築師, 我構想、設計太空居所, 協助人類探索更深遠的宇宙, 例如火星表面。 我不僅設計讓太空人 保持最佳健康狀態和表現的空間, 也研究這些建築的構造 以及建造方法。
Now, Mars is so far from us that communications delays can take up to 22 minutes one way to or from Earth. And what that means is that we can't rely on real-time telerobotics controlled by people on Earth to supervise what happens in construction on Mars or for that matter, to supervise anything that happens when we're exploring the planet. But if we leverage autonomous robotics, we'll send 3D printers and other construction robots to build protective habitats and shelters before the crew even arrives.
火星離我們如此遙遠, 單程往返地球的通訊 至多要延遲 22 分鐘才能抵達。 這表示我們不能依賴 由地球上即時操控的遠程機器人 監管火星上的建造工程 或是探索行星的事務。 但如果我們利用自主機器人呢? 我們將 3D 列印器 和其他建築機器人送上火星, 在太空人到達前, 建造好保護性的居所和避難處。
So how exactly would 3D printers build a habitat on Mars? Well, first we have to figure out what these structures are made out of. Just like early civilizations, will use in situ regolith, commonly known as dirt, and other resources that are local and indigenous to the planet, including water, and possibly combine them with additives and binders that we bring from Earth to engineer high-performance construction materials. Our goal when we're designing these habitats is to introduce an airtight structure that can withstand internal pressurization, which is what will allow people to live in a breathable and temperate environment on the inside.
究竟 3D 列印機如何 在火星上打造居所呢? 首先,我們要先解決這些房屋結構 要由什麼建材蓋成的? 就像早期文明一樣,我們 將使用風化層,俗稱塵土, 和其他在火星的本地資源,包含水, 接著可能與由地球帶來的 添加劑和黏合劑混合, 製造高性能的建造材料。 設計這些居所時,我們的目標是建造 一個足以承受內部加壓的密閉式結構。 這樣人類能夠生活在可自由呼吸 且舒適的環境裡。
The robots that we deploy on Mars will need to perceive and interpret the complexity of a construction site in order to sequence and choreograph different types of tasks. These tasks will include prospecting Mars and surveying for a site to build, collecting raw materials, processing those materials and maneuvering them around. Some of these bots might resemble the character Wall-E, except, you know, not so cute. Once the site has been excavated and foundations are printed, these structures are manufactured layer by layer by layer. And as construction progresses, prebuilt and preintegrated hardware like airlocks or life support equipment brought from Earth are inserted into the print until finally they're sealed at various connection points.
我們部署在火星上的機器人 必須要能認知、理解建築工地的複雜性, 以便安排、編程不同類型的任務。 這些任務包括 探測火星、勘查建築區域, 以及蒐集、處理並搬運那些原料。 這些機器人 可能有點像電影角色瓦力, 但並沒有那麼可愛。 待建築工地挖掘完 地基也印製好後, 再將這些結構逐層堆疊上去。 而隨著建設的推進, 從地球上運來的先行製作、 組裝好的硬體結構, 如密封艙或維生設備 會被安裝在打好的地基上, 最後在不同的連結點密封起來。
To do more than just survive in space, we need to create environments that positively contribute to well-being for months and years into the future. And as more civilian astronauts travel to space, it's important that our environments are more than the tightly packed mechanical interiors of the International Space Station, which today represents the state of the art for long-duration human life in space. We also want to incorporate practical architectural elements such as access to natural light through windows and greenery. These were features that were missing aboard the space station when it was first commissioned, but which we know are critical to positive psychological functioning and well-being. For long duration missions in deep space, it's important that crew members feel less like they're living in a machine and more like they're living in a home.
我們不僅只要在太空中生存, 我們要創造可以居住幾個月, 甚至好幾年的健康生活環境。 隨著越來越多平民到太空旅行, 我們的環境不應該 像國際太空站內壅擠的座艙, 而是要以最新技術為人類 長期停留太空做準備。 我們也希望融入實用的建築元素, 例如,由窗戶透進自然光以及綠化。 這些是首次使用太空站時所忽略的, 但我們現在知道這些特色 對正向心理功能和健康很重要。 在進行外太空的長期任務時, 應該讓太空人不覺得居住在機器裏, 而是像生活在家裡。
There are other ways of approaching habitat construction on Mars. Hard-shell or inflatable structures may not provide the radiation protection that we need, and living underground in lava tubes doesn't quite support direct surface exploration on the planet. And also, why would you travel for eight months to live underground? Designing structures in space is all about mitigating risks and the habitats that we create will need to be the most durable and the most resilient structures ever conceived. Future off-world surface habitats will be self-regulating and self-maintained structures to support the crew members while they're there, but also to operate autonomously when they are not.
火星上的居所還有其他解決方案, 如硬殼建築或充氣結構, 但這些可能無法提供我們 所需的輻射防護。 而住在地下的熔岩管內, 太空人就不太能直接勘查行星表面, 況且,經歷八個月的旅程去到火星, 為什麼要去住在地底下? 設計太空建築,重點都在於降低風險, 我們建造的居所必須是 有史以來最耐用及 最有彈性的結構。 未來的太空表層居所 會是自我管理、維護的建築, 當太空人在的時候,保護他們, 太空人不在時,建築則會自動運作。
Before we send anyone to Mars, we need data to answer some very key questions about human health, safety, and to validate each of these construction activities. Fortunately for us, we have a testbed and a proving ground much, much closer to Earth. That's our own Moon. Today we're working with NASA to demonstrate how we'll 3D-print infrastructure like landing pads, roadways and eventually habitats directly on the lunar surface. The Moon is a critical pit stop to refuel, resupply and serve as a general platform for vehicles traveling to deep space, and we'll use the technologies establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon to travel to, from and operate on the surface of Mars.
在我們派任何人去到火星前, 我們需要數據來解答有關健康、安全等 至關重要的問題, 也需要證實這些建築工法是否有效。 幸運的是,我們有個離 地球很近的實驗場, 那就是我們的月球。 現在我們跟美國國家航空暨太空總署 (NASA)一起合作 示範我們如何直接在月球表面 用 3D 列印出像停機坪、車道、 還有居所這類基礎設施。 月球是很重要的加油、補給的中繼站, 同時也為遠征的太空船提供 一個公共的停靠站, 我們會運用這些科技在月球上 打造一座持續運作、 供人類往返月球和長期居住的駐地。
What else are we doing to advance the viability of 3D printing for building in space? Well, for one thing, we can demonstrate that 3D-printed structures can support people in a mission-like environment right here on Earth, and use data from those experiments to set standards and requirements for future Mars missions. This is what we did in designing and building Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed analog habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, referred to as the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog -- that's a really long name, I know -- this structure will house four volunteer crew members simulating a one-year mission to Mars, including a 20-minute communications delay. The first mission is kicking off later this year, but you could actually apply to be a crew member in this habitat sometime in the future. Or if you're not so inclined, you can suggest it to someone else in the name of research.
我們還做了那些事推展 3D 列印 在太空建築的可行性呢? 嗯,有這麼一件事 我們可以在地球上直接展示: 3D 列印建築在 類似太空任務的環境裏支援人類, 而且我們可以使用這些實驗數據 設立未來火星任務的標準及規定。 這就是我們在設計、建造 「火星山丘一號」所做的事, 這是位於休士頓詹森太空中心的 3D 列印模擬居所, 我們稱它為「探索太空人健康和 表現的模擬計畫」。 名字很長,我知道。 這個建築會容納四位自願參與成員, 模擬在火星生活一年的任務, 包括 20 分鐘的通訊延遲。 第一次的任務在今年稍後展開, 未來你也可以申請 成為這個居所的成員。 或者,如果不太有興趣, 你也能以研究名義,推薦給某個人。
(Laughter) If you're one of the chosen few, you'll be sharing 1700 square feet of living and working areas with three others, and that includes an aeroponic garden for plant growth, a communications area, an exercise room, as well as individual crew cabins that are very cozy, just six by 12 feet.
(笑聲) 如果你是少數被挑中的組員之一, 你會和另外三個人共享 1700 平方英呎(約 48 坪) 生活及工作區域, 包括以氣耕栽種植物的菜園, 通訊區,健身房, 以及十分舒適的個人艙房, 6 X 12 英呎大小(二坪)。
Some of you may be thinking, "Well, building in space, this is a topic pretty far removed from our day-to-day lives. How might it impact what we do on Earth today? In my experience, designing for an extreme environment that is the most restrictive and that presents the most constraints, and which literally no human has ever gone before, is what gives us the best chances of creatively engineering solutions to problems here on Earth that seem completely beyond our grasp today. Problems like housing solutions for the chronically homeless or hurricane and disaster relief housing. Or rethinking sustainable practices within construction overall, which, according to the UN, is responsible for up to 30 percent of carbon emissions worldwide. The autonomous technologies that we develop for building in space redound to us on Earth. They feed back and pay dividends to how we reimagine and reconceive construction happening today.
你可能會想問: 「嗯,在太空蓋房子 感覺跟我們日常生活毫不相干。 這對現在在地球的我們有什麼影響? 就我的經驗, 為最嚴酷、充滿阻礙 且至今無人到達的極端環境設計建築, 給了我們最好的機會 去發揮創意、找到方法 解決現今地球上我們似乎 能力不及的問題。 像是長期遊民的房屋方案, 颶風、天災受災戶臨時住所, 或者重新思考建造房屋的永續作法, 根據聯合國統計, 建築過程佔了多達 30% 全球碳排放量。 而我們在太空建築裡研發的自動技術 也會對在地球的我們有好處。 這些技術有助於我們重新想像、 重新認知現有的建造過程, 對未來大有助益。
The fact of the matter is that the most habitable planet is the one we live on right now. I don't like treating space like it's a lifeboat for humanity from an ailing planet Earth. We can either solve for how to build smarter and more sustainably today, or we'll have to think about designing for survival on an Earth more extreme and more foreign than any of us have ever known. And this to me cannot be the primary reason or driver why we explore and venture into deep space.
事實上,最適合人居住的星球是 我們現在居住的地球。 我不希望把太空當成人類的救生船, 用來逃離生病的地球。 我們可以現在想辦法用更聰明、 永續的方式蓋房子, 不然我們就得思考如何為更極端、 更陌生的地球 設計生存方案。 對我而言,這不能成為我們探索太空的 主要原因或動機。
It's been over 50 years since any human has traveled outside of Earth's orbit. Things are about to change. We will develop a permanent Moon base, and we will build autonomously on Mars. We are on the cusp of seeing radical transformation and how we build on Earth and how we push past limits to a new frontier of human exploration in space.
距離人類初次離開地球軌道 已經超過 50 年了。 現在情況即將改變。 我們會在月球建立永久基地, 也會在火星上用自動技術做同樣的事。 我們正位在事情急遽變化的轉捩點。 不論是我們在地球上的建築方式 或者我們如何開拓極限, 在太空探索人類的邊疆。
Thank you so much.
十分感謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)