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The U.S. Space Command recently released a proposal aimed at reducing the "junk" orbiting the Earth in space.
美国太空司令部最近发布了一项提案，旨在减少太空中绕地球轨道运行的“垃圾”。
Space junk might be a piece of metal that broke off from an orbiting satellite.
太空垃圾可能是从轨道卫星上脱落下来的一块金属。
Or it could be a whole satellite that is no longer powered on or controlled by the organization that launched it.
或者可能是一颗不再受发射它的组织控制的完整的卫星。
If other countries and businesses agree to follow the U.S. proposal, outer space could become much safer and cleaner.
如果其他国家和企业同意遵循美国的提议，外太空可能会变得更加安全和干净。
Lloyd Austin is the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
劳埃德·奥斯汀是美国国防部长。
He approved the proposal, known as "Tenets of Responsible Behavior in Space," in early March.
3月初，他批准了这项名为“负责任的太空行为准则”的提案。
It is not a legal document; it is a five-point list of so-called "best practices."
它不是一份法律文件，而是所谓的“最佳实践”的五点清单。
One of the points reads: "avoid operating...in a way that may harmfully interfere with the function of (another) space object."
其中一条写道：“避免采取可能会干扰其他太空物体的功能的行动。”
Another is "operate space objects through end-of-life disposal in ways that limit...long-lived debris."
另一条是“限制长寿命碎片的产生。”
The other points relate to avoiding collisions, or crashes, between space objects, not interfering with an organization's ability to control a space device and communicating ahead of time about a possible collision.
其他要点涉及避免太空物体之间的碰撞，不干扰组织控制空间设备的能力，以及提前就可能发生的碰撞进行沟通。
The main concern is that there are too many old objects in space that are no longer used.
主要的担忧是太空中有太多不再使用的旧物体。
Those objects may get in the way of objects that are useful.
这些物体可能会妨碍有用的物体。
Government space agencies and private businesses are working to create some kind of order, especially in the part of space that is called low Earth orbit.
政府航天机构和私营企业正在努力建立某种秩序，尤其是在被称为低地球轨道的太空部分。
That is where a number of internet satellites launched by Elon Musk's company SpaceX are currently active.
也就是埃隆·马斯克的太空探索技术公司发射的一些卫星互联网目前活跃的地方。
Amazon is also planning to launch satellites into that area.
亚马逊也计划向该区域发射卫星。
Jack Deasy is a vice president for the company Astroscale, which is based in Tokyo, Japan.
杰克·迪希是总部位于日本东京的Astroscale公司的副总裁。
The company is testing a debris-removal device called ELSA.
该公司正在测试一种名为ELSA的碎片清除设备。
The device connects to space debris and pushes the objects towards Earth's atmosphere, where they will burn up.
该装置连接到太空碎片，并将这些物体推向地球大气层，在那里它们将被烧毁。
Deasy said the points included in the U.S. proposal should be adopted by the industry before something bad happens in orbit.
迪希说，这份美国提案中所包含的这些要点应该在轨道上发生糟糕的事情之前被该行业采纳。
If something is not done soon and something happens in orbit, Deasy said he is worried the industry will make a fast decision in answer to an accident.
迪希说，如果不尽快采取行动，若轨道上发生事情，他担心航空业会在事故发生后迅速做出决定。
He said, "That kind of ... crisis-driven thing is not always the best way of setting up long-term policies that sustain the ecosystem."
他说，“那种……危机驱动的决定并不总是制定维持生态系统的长期政策的最佳方式。”
So far, Astroscale has raised $376 million for its space-cleaning program.
到目前为止，Astroscale已经为其太空清理计划筹集了3.76亿美元。
One of the investors is Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.
其中一位投资者是日本亿万富翁前泽友作。
He recently published a message on Twitter saying that garbage in space "can become a big problem in the future."
他最近在推特上发布了一条消息，称太空垃圾“在未来可能会成为一个大问题”。
While Astroscale is developing a system to remove space debris, other companies are working on creating devices that can capture old satellites and refuel them.
在Astroscale正在开发一种清除太空碎片的系统的同时，其他公司也在开发能够捕获旧卫星并为其补充燃料的设备。
The hope is that the old devices can be reactivated so they can be useful for a longer period.
他们希望旧设备能够重新激活，这样它们就可以使用更长的时间。
Another company, Neumann Space of Australia, is working on a way to collect old satellites and turn them into fuel for currently active satellites.
另一家公司，澳大利亚的诺伊曼太空公司，正在研究一种收集旧卫星并将其转化为目前活跃的卫星的燃料的方法。
The metal can be used to power new satellites, explained Herve Astier.
赫维·阿斯迪亚解释说，这种金属可以用来为新的卫星提供动力。
He runs Neumann Space.
他经营着诺伊曼太空公司。
"Using the metal that's already there, that's a way to move forward in terms of sustainability," he said.
“利用已经存在的金属，这是促进可持续发展的一种方式，”他说。
Neumann plans to launch a test satellite in June.
诺伊曼计划在6月发射一颗测试卫星。
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
