正在向地球襲來的美國失控衛(wèi)星預(yù)計(jì)將于9月23日下午墜地。英媒報道稱，這枚與大巴大小相似的衛(wèi)星可能墜落于地球任何地方，而人類的預(yù)警時間只有20秒。它向地球進(jìn)行的速度是每秒8公里，預(yù)計(jì)其碎片將散落于直徑為800公里的區(qū)域內(nèi)。

A defunct U.S. satellite is expected to crash down to Earth Friday, with nobody knowing where or when exactly it will hit. This was unavoidable, a Chinese expert said Thursday.
一顆美國報廢衛(wèi)星將會在周五撞擊地球，然而卻沒有知道這枚衛(wèi)星具體會在哪里著陸。這是難以避免的——中國專家周四表示。

Pang Zhihao, a researcher from the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, told Xinhua that the crash could have been avoided had the satellite been put into a higher orbit, or manipulated to drop in the South Pacific when it had abundant fuel. It would pose no threat to Earth if these measures had been taken.
中國空間技術(shù)研究院研究員龐之浩在接受新華社記者專訪時說，此次衛(wèi)星撞地球的麻煩本來可以避免。假使在燃料充足時，將衛(wèi)星引導(dǎo)到不易墜落的更高軌道，或是操控它墜入南太平洋的航天器“墳場”，就不會有今天對地球的威脅了。

The satellite was deactivated in 2005 as it ran out of fuel and was left orbiting Earth like a big piece of space junk.
這顆衛(wèi)星于2005年由于燃油耗盡報廢，并像一大塊宇宙垃圾一樣被扔在了飛行軌道上。

There are other cases of defunct satellites. The European Space Agency said earlier its observation satellite ERS-2 has run out of fuel and is deorbiting. It would therefore also crash sooner or later.
無獨(dú)有偶，歐洲航天局早前稱，據(jù)他們預(yù)測，ESR-2衛(wèi)星已脫離軌道，將來的某一天也會撞上地球。

Pang said all countries which are operating space vehicles should take care of their own spacecrafts so that they won't pose any danger.
龐之浩說所有國家都應(yīng)該好好處理自己國際發(fā)射的航天設(shè)備，以免造成危險。

The expert also said that the public need not worry too much.
龐之浩專家說，公眾也不必過于擔(dān)心。

Pang said most spacecrafts will be incinerated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, and the debris will mostly likely fall into the ocean or hit an uninhabited area. In addition, a debris tracker is able to give a comparatively accurate prediction where the craft will fall about two hours before it hits Earth, giving residents, if there are any, time to evacuate.
龐之浩說航天器的很大一部分將會在進(jìn)入大氣層時被燒盡，而剩余部分將會落入海洋或者一些無人居住的地區(qū)。另外，美國等國家現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有能力在碎塊墜地前約2小時較準(zhǔn)確地預(yù)報墜落地點(diǎn)，因此受威脅地區(qū)的人員有時間疏散或躲避。

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