Космос всегда притягивал человека своей непостижимостью, загадочностью и труднодоступностью. Знания о нем накапливались сотнями, если не тысячами лет, и только в 20 веке ученые совершили значительный прорыв в области изучения и освоения космоса. Сегодня человечество всерьез задумывается о жизни за пределами нашей планеты, и мы подумали, что видео по соответствующей тематике будет для вас интересным и полезным.
Из видео вы узнаете о возможности колонизации других планет и создания отдельных поселений вне территории Земли, сможете потренироваться в аудировании, а также пополните свой словарный запас.
Данный материал рассчитан на изучающих английский с уровнем Intermediate и выше.
Для начала прочитайте инструкцию о том, как пользоваться этой статьей, чтобы она принесла наибольший эффект.
Инструкция по работе с видео
How and where to colonize space — как и где заселять космос
| Текст | Словосочетания |
|---|---|
| Hi! I’m Joe Strout. I have two boys, 10 and 14 years old, and three of us have been working for the last year or so on a video game about space settlement. But it’s not just a game. In fact, it’s the most detailed and accurate space colony simulation program that has ever been made. | а space settlement — космическое поселение detailed — подробный accurate — точный, доскональный а space colony — космическая колония, поселение а simulation program — программа имитационного моделирования |
| We simulate everything from gravity, radiation, and rotational dynamics down to individual buildings and traffic paths for the people inside. All this is quite a lot of work as you can imagine. But we feel it’s important. For my part, I’d say it’s the most important project I’ve ever worked on. I’d like to share with you some of the big ideas behind it and why it matters so much. | a traffic path — полоса уличного движения it matters — это имеет значение, это важно |
| In the early days of space exploration things proceeded very rapidly. Twelve years from Sputnik to the first Moon landing. People assumed this pace of change would continue and we would soon be moving into space in large numbers. So researchers looked carefully whether the best site for a growing society is Earth, the Moon, Mars, some other planet or somewhere else entirely. | space exploration — освоение космоса to proceed — происходить, развиваться, разворачиваться rapidly — быстро, стремительно Moon landing — высадка на Луну to assume — допускать, предполагать pace — темп, скорость a researcher — исследователь а site — место, площадка somewhere else entirely /ɪnˈtaɪəlɪ/ — в совершенно другом месте |
| Surprisingly, they found the answer to be inescapable: the best site is somewhere else entirely. Researchers concluded that the best place for humanity to live in space isn’t on the surface of any planet or Moon, but rather in free-floating orbital space colonies. Numerous papers were written and studies were done working out the details. This was just before the Space Shuttle, which was expected to dramatically lower the cost to orbit. The cost analysis showed that we could have orbital cities of tens of thousands of people, perhaps by 1995 or so. | inescapable — неизбежный, неотвратимый to conclude — сделать вывод humanity — человечество on the surface — на поверхности numerous — многочисленный to work out — вычислять, прорабатывать, разбираться dramatically lower the cost — значительно снизить стоимость an orbit — орбита tens of thousands — десятки тысяч |
| Well, obviously that didn’t happen. The Shuttle program turned out to be quite a bit more expensive than expected, and funding for the space program was reduced. Also the energy crisis of the 1970s temporarily abated, reducing the need to look for clean, cheap energy sources such as space-based solar power. So we retreated to low Earth orbit going around in circles for more than three decades. | obviously — очевидно to turn out — выясняться, оказываться funding — финансирование to be reduced — быть сокращенным, уменьшенным to abate temporarily — временно снизиться, уменьшиться; пойти на спад an energy source — источник энергии space-based solar power — космическая солнечная электростанция to retreat /rɪˈtriːt/ — отказываться, отступать a decade — десятилетие |
| But now things are changing again. Private enterprises are entering the space business in an aggressive way with ventures like SpaceX reducing the cost to orbit down to the sort of levels we were expecting in the 70s. Virgin Galactic is preparing to make routine passenger flights to the edge of space. Bigelow Aerospace has tested private inflatable space stations, and several companies are now seriously proposing to mine near-Earth asteroids. So, amidst all this renewed activity, people are starting to think again about colonizing space. | a private enterprise — частное предприятие а venture — авантюра, рискованное предприятие или начинание an edge — край inflatable — надувной to propose — предлагать to mine — взрывать amidst — в условиях, среди |
| But what destinations do people think about? The top of the list is, as always, Mars. Mars holds fascination for us, and it has been a target of colonization dreams since the early days of space exploration. |
a destination — место назначения fascination /fæsɪˈneɪʃn/ — притягательность, пленительность a target — цель since /sɪns/ — с того момента, как |
| Next up is the Moon, which has the unique advantage of being only a few days away all the time. A few thinkers have considered Venus, which might support floating cities at just the right level in the atmosphere to have Earth-like temperatures and pressures. And then, so far down on the list, that most people don’t even give it any thought, orbital space colonies. So let’s talk about those. How do they work? And should we be giving them more attention? | a few — немного, несколько to consider — рассматривать, учитывать a floating city — плавучий (парящий) город pressure — давление to give some (any) thought — всерьез задуматься |
| First, let’s look at gravity. We know that one Earth’s gravity, like what we’re all sitting in right now, is good for us. And we know from years of living aboard space stations that zero gravity is not healthy for us. It causes bones and muscles to weaken, immune deficiency, heart problems, and increased risk of things like kidney stones. | gravity — гравитация, притяжение aboard — на борту to cause — вызывать, быть причиной to weaken — ослаблять immune deficiency — иммунодефицит an increased risk — повышенный риск a kidney stone — камень в почках |
| But what do we know about intermediate levels of gravity, like the 1/3 G on Mars, or the 1/6 G on the Moon? Well, here is what we know: nothing. Nobody has ever lived at any intermediate level of gravity for more than a few days, so we just don’t know the effects of these G levels, even on adults. Much less children, who are likely to be more susceptible to developmental problems. | intermediate — промежуточный, средний an adult — взрослый susceptible /səˈseptəbl/ — восприимчивый, чувствительный a developmental problem — проблема, связанная с развитием |
| This is a big problem for planetary colonies, because you can’t get Earth-like gravity anywhere except Earth and possibly Venus. But without children you don’t have a colony, you have at best an outpost. | except — кроме possibly — возможно at best — в лучшем случае an outpost — отдаленное поселение, представительство, застава |
| Orbital space colonies produce pseudo gravity through rotation, just like amusement park rides some of you may have tried. The larger the radius of rotation is, the slower it can spin and still produce an Earth-like gravity. A one-kilometer colony, for example, only needs to spin 1.3 times each minute to produce one Earth’s gravity. | pseudo /ˈsjuːdəʊ/ — псевдо rotation — вращение an amusement park ride — аттракцион в парке развлечений to spin — крутиться, вращаться each — каждый |
| Of course, if we discover that less gravity is acceptable, then we can either build smaller or spin slower. In fact, one cool thing about an orbital colony is that you can have multiple, different levels of gravity at the same time. Higher decks, closer to the spin axes have proportionally less gravity. So maybe if we’ll find that elderly or injured patients are safer at 1/2 G, they can just stay on a higher deck. | to discover — обнаруживать acceptable — допустимый either ... or... — или ... или... multiple — многочисленный a deck — палуба, площадка a spin axe — ось вращения the elderly — пожилые an injured patient — травмированный/раненный пациент |
| And in the center, you can have zero gravity sports and recreation, and still be at home in time for dinner. | recreation — отдых, развлечение |
| OK, let’s talk about radiation. Free space is filled with radiation from the Sun, and much harder radiation in the form of cosmic rays which stream in from all directions. Here on Earth we’re protected largely by the Earth’s magnetic field, and secondarily by the tons of air above our heads. Mars, Venus and the Moon have no significant magnetic fields. And apart from Venus, not much atmosphere either. So every time you step outside there, you’re dosing yourself with radiation. You’d have to stay underground most of the time to avoid problems like cataracts, cancer and infertility. | free space — свободное пространство be filled with — быть наполненным чем-либо a cosmic ray — космическое излучение, луч to stream in — вливаться a direction — направление a magnetic field — магнитное поле significant — значимый, важный to step outside — выходить to avoid — избегать cancer — рак (болезнь) infertility — бесплодие |
| Orbital space colonies are built outside-in. We’re going to need a few meters of soil beneath our feet anyway to support a robust biosphere. And that alone provides substantial shielding against space radiation. | outside-in — наизнанку soil beneath /bɪˈniːθ/ our feet — почва у нас под ногами robust — крепкий, прочный substantial shielding /ˈʃiːldɪŋ/ — усиленная защита |
| In fact, a colony in a low Earth orbit would have less radiation inside than we experience here on Earth. Outside of Earth’s magnetic field some additional shielding might be necessary, but it’s still nicer to have that beneath your feet than over your head. | to experience — ощущать, испытывать |
| I’m going to touch only briefly upon the day/night cycle. Obviously, we evolved with the 24-hour day. The Martian day is very similar: 24.6 hours, and this may be a part of our fascination with Mars. A space colony would have exactly the day length that you want, most likely, matching Earth’s. Daylight would either be sunlight, reflected into the habitat through shield mirrors, or artificial lighting, but so far overhead that it produces an outdoorsy daytime feel. | to touch upon — затрагивать, упоминать to evolve — развиваться matching — совпадающий daylight — дневной свет reflected — отражаемый a habitat — среда обитания, место проживания an outdoorsy daytime feel — ощущение пребывания на улице в дневное время |
| So you can probably tell by now that I see a lot of advantages to orbital colonies. As soon as you let go of the assumption that we need a planetary surface to live on, you quickly come to the conclusion that orbital space colonies are the best place to be. In short, we can do better than Mars. | as soon as — как только to let go — отпустить an assumption — предположение to come to the conclusion — прийти к выводу |
| This is why my sons and I are building our game which we called “High Frontier”. We have built it to be as accurate as possible: the physics, radiation levels, ecology and everything else is based on real science. So players of the game aren’t just playing, they’re exploring the vast design space and finding solutions that might actually work. | a frontier /ˈfrʌntɪə/ — граница, рубеж to be based on — быть основанным на science — наука vast — обширный a solution — решение, выход из ситуации |
| At the very least, they’re learning about an alternative to planetary colonies. And we hope that someday some of those smart, educated players might help to make it actually happen. When it does, it might unfold something like this. The little green dots you see here represent orbital space colonies. Each one is home to anywhere from 10 thousand to 10 million men, women and children. | at the very least — как минимум to unfold — разворачиваться, происходить a dot — точка to represent — представлять |
| А recent work based in part upon “High Frontier” has shown its best to begin in low Earth orbit, within the Earth’s magnetic field. But we’ll expand from there to higher Earth orbits, and then orbits near the Moon. After that, colonies around Mars might make sense with its two moons providing materials. | recent — недавний, крайний within — в рамках to expand — расширять to make sense — иметь смысл |
| From there we’ll expand into the Asteroid Belt with an estimated billion or so objects, at least 100 meters in diameter, which may not sound like much, but a 100-meter asteroid weighs about 10 million metric tons. In fact, experts estimate that there is enough material in the main Asteroid Belt alone to build space colonies with the combined area of 3000 times the livable land area of Earth. | the Asteroid Belt — пояс астероидов estimated — установленный a billion — миллиард to weigh — весить enough — достаточно a livable land area — территория суши, пригодная для жизни |
| And then there are more asteroids in Jupiter’s orbit, and of course the Jovian System itself which has dozens of minor moons and rings massing about 10 billion tons. | the Jovian System — Юпитерианская (кольцевая) система a dozen /dʌzn/ — дюжина minor /ˈmaɪnə/ — меньший, второстепенный massing — с массой |
| After that we’ll move to the Saturn System which has similar resources. Just think of the view you would have out of the windows there! | to move — (про)двигаться a view — вид |
| And then onward to Uranus and Neptun. And then the Kuiper Belt, with an estimated 70 thousand dwarf planets out in the cold and dark. | onward — далее, вперед the Kuiper Belt — пояс Койпера a dwarf planet — карликовая планета |
| The Solar System is vastly larger and richer than most people realize. It’s full of exactly the materials and energy that we need. And remember, unlike past human migrations, there are no ecosystems here, no natives that will be displaced; these are sterile chunks of ice and rock just waiting for us to bring warmth, and light, and life. | the Solar System — Солнечная система to realize — осознавать, понимать a native — местный житель to be displaced — смещать, быть перемещенным a chunk of rock — кусок камня |
| This greening of the Solar System, turning dead chunks of rock into millions of inside out worlds full of trees, and birds, and bugs, and people. This is the bright future I see for us. And it all starts here: smart, enthusiastic kids are playing a video game where they get to decide how and where to build space colonies, how to run them when they are built, how to balance the ecosystem, manage resources and budgets, and educate each generation. That’s why we’re building “High Frontier” and that’s why it’s not just a game. | greening — озеленение, экологизация inside out — вывернутый наизнанку а bug — жук enthusiastic — увлеченный, мотивированный to run — управлять а generation — поколение |
Минута грамматики
Как вы наверняка заметили, в видео представлены различные грамматические времена, мы подробнее остановимся на временах группы Perfect: Present Perfect и Present Perfect Continuous.
Начнем с того, что в этих временах мы используем вспомогательный глагол have/has. Для времени Present Perfect в качестве основного глагола мы берем 3 форму (Past Participle), если он неправильный (irregular), а к правильному глаголу (regular) добавляем окончание -ed.
We have built it to be as accurate as possible. — Мы разработали ее, чтобы она (игра) была максимально точной.
Bigelow Aerospace has tested private inflatable space stations. — Компания Bigelow Aerospace провела тестирование частных надувных орбитальных станций.
Мы используем Present Perfect для указания уже произошедшего, завершенного действия, результат которого имеет значение или последствия в настоящем.
А recent work based in part upon “High Frontier” has shown its best to begin in low Earth orbit. — Недавняя работа, частично основанная на игре High Frontier, показала, что лучше всего начать на низкой околоземной орбите.
Nobody has ever lived at any intermediate level of gravity for more than a few days. — Никто никогда не жил при среднем уровне гравитации больше чем несколько дней.
Обратите внимание на слова recent (недавний) и ever (когда-либо). Они указывают на актуальность и результативность информации на сегодняшний день.
Теперь поговорим о Present Perfect Continuous. Для образования этого времени нам нужно 3 глагола: have/has + been + основной глагол с -ing. Данная конструкция обычно используется с ключевыми словами: for (в течение) и since (с тех пор как). Эти слова показывают, что действие началось в прошлом, но длится до сих пор.
Three of us have been working for the last year or so on a video game about space settlement. — Мы втроем работаем в течение последнего года над видеоигрой о космических поселениях.
Three of us have been working since 2015 on a video game about space settlement. — Мы втроем работаем с 2015 над видеоигрой о космических поселениях.
Набить руку в использовании Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous и 10 других времен можно, пройдя видеокурс «Система времен английского языка».
Напоследок предлагаем пройти небольшой тест по изученной лексике и грамматике.
Тест по теме «Видеоурок: учим английский и осваиваем космос»
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Скачать список лексики по теме «Видеоурок: учим английский и осваиваем космос» (*.pdf, 318 Кб)
Надеемся, этот урок был вам полезен, вы пополнили свой словарный запас, повторили грамматику и получили порцию познавательной информации. Изучайте космос, применяя английский!