太陽能飛機環球飛行 | Solar-Powered Plane to Fly Around the World

Solar-Powered Plane to Fly Around the World

太陽能飛機環球飛行

The makers and pilots of a solar-powered plane will try to fly it around the world beginning next month.

下個月，太陽能動力飛機的製造商和飛行員會嘗試飛機的環球飛行。

The plane is called “Solar Impulse 2,” or SI-2. It arrived in pieces recently in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The plane’s material is mostly plastic strengthened with lightweight glass. It is now being assembled and prepared for its journey around the globe. The SI-2 team plans to circumnavigatethe Earth in 25 flying days over a five month period.

這架飛機叫做「太陽動力2號（Solar Impulse 2）」飛機的各個零部件已經運送到阿拉伯聯合酋長國的阿布紮比。機身的材料是有一種輕質玻璃加強的塑膠材料。現在已經安裝完畢，準備開始環球航行。SI-2研究團隊計劃在五個月的時間內完成環球25天的飛行。

The idea was first tested by Solar Impulse 1 in 2012. Pilots flew the plane on an intercontinental flight from Switzerland to Morocco. And in the summer of 2013, the plane was flown across the United States, from San Francisco to New York City.

2012年Solar Impulse 1飛機首次進行飛行試驗。飛行員駕駛飛機做到從瑞士刀摩洛哥的跨國飛行。2013年夏天，飛機從舊金山飛到紐約，橫跨美國。

The plane’s wings are 72 meters across. They are covered with more than 17,000 solar cells. These special energy storage containers provide power to the batteries that permit the plane’s four electric motors to operate at night.

飛機兩翼72米長，大概有17,000塊太陽能電池。這些特別的能源儲存裝置為電池提供能量，這樣確保飛機的四個電子馬達在夜晚也能正常運作。

Only one person can sit in the SI-2. In March, the first pilot will take off from Abu Dhabi and fly along the equator, where the sun’s rays are strongest. The plane will land every few days so that the two pilots can take turns flying it.

SI-2飛機上只能乘坐一名飛行員。三月份，首位飛行員會從阿布紮比起飛，然後沿著太陽光線最強的赤道飛行。飛機隔幾天會著陸一次，這樣兩個飛行員能夠換班飛行。

Bertrand Piccard is one of the pilots. He also helped create the project. He says the flight around the world will require that he and the other pilot have a lot of endurance.

伯特蘭·皮卡德是其中一名飛行員。他同時也參與這個項目的創建工作。他表示環球飛行需要他和其他飛行員有足夠的忍耐力。

“It’s very exciting for everybody, and we are also in the psychological preparation of the pilot and the team, because technology is OK, but you need to cope now with very long duration flights — single pilot on board for five days and five nights; lot of stress for everybody.”

「對每個人來說，這次環球飛行都讓人非常激動，我們也做好飛行的心理準備。技術已經完備，但是你需要解決的是長時間的飛行問題——五個晝夜只有一個飛行員在飛機上，這對每個人來說都有很大壓力。」

Andre Borschberg is the other pilot. He helped Mr. Piccard create the solar planes. He says that although a computer called an autopilotcan fly SI-2, he and Mr. Piccard plan to rest or sleep for only 20 minutes at a time.

安德烈·博爾施博格是另一位飛行員。他幫助皮卡德建造太陽能飛機。他表示盡管叫做自動駕駛儀的電腦操作系統能夠操作SI-2的飛行，但是他跟皮卡德每次休息或睡眠時間只有20分鐘。

He says the number of times the pilots will be able to rest or sleep every night is difficult to estimate. He says they have trained in asimulatorto have six to eight breaks in a 24-hour period. That is about two hours of sleep every 24 hours. He says that is not a lot.

每天晚上飛行員能夠休息或者睡眠的次數很難估測。他說他們已經在一個模擬裝置里進行訓練：24小時內只有6到8次的休息。這也就是說24小時里只有兩個小時的睡眠時間。睡眠時間很顯然不是很多。

Bertrand Piccard says the goal of the project is to show that renewable energy and clean technologies can be used in other kinds of projects.

伯特蘭·皮卡德稱這個項目的目標是展示可再生能源和清潔技術在其它項目中的使用。

“If an airplane can fly with no fuel around the world, can you imagine how this technology could be used everywhere?”

「如果一架飛機能夠不用燃料環球飛行的話，你能想像這種技術在其它任何地方如何使用嗎？」

SI-2 is to return to Abu Dhabi in July.

SI-2預計7月份返回阿布紮比。