新概念英语（第四册，旧版）复习（原文及全文翻译）——Lesson 49 - Balloon Astronomy（气球天文学）

Lesson 49 - Balloon Astronomy

Rockets and artificial satellites can go far above the ionosphere, and even escape from the Earth. Yet they are complex and expensive, and in their present stage of development they cannot lift massive telescopes, keep them steady while the observations are being carried out, and then return them safely. Balloons are much easier to handle, and are also vastly cheaper. Their main limitation is that they are incapable of rising to the ionosphere. A height of between 80,000 and 90,000 feet is as much as can reasonably be expected, and so balloon-borne instruments can contribute little to either ultra-violet astronomy or X-ray astronomy. All the same, the balloon has much to be said in its favour, since it can at least carry heavy equipment above most of the atmospheric mass--thus eliminating blurring and unsteadiness of the images. Moreover, water-vapour and carbon dioxide in the lower air absorb most of the infra-red radiations sent to us from the planets. Balloon ascents overcome this hazard with ease. Hot-air balloons date back to the year 1783, and within a few months of the first flight a French scientist, Charles, went up two miles in a free balloon. Yet there is little resemblance between these crude vehicles and a modern scientific balloon, which has by now become an important research tool. The main development has been carried out by M. Schwarlschild and his team at Princeton University in the United States, in collaboration with the United States Navy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The 'Stratoscope' flights of 1959, concerned mainly with studies of the Sun, were remarkably successful, and the project has now been extended. With Stratoscope II, the overall height from the telescope to the top of the launch balloon is 666 feet, the balloons together weigh over two tons, and another two tons of ballast are carried for later release if height has be maintained during the night. The telescope, plus its controls weighs three-and-a-half tons. Two large parachutes arc also carried; in case of emergency, the instruments and their records can be separated from the main balloon system, and brought down gently. Many of the radio and electronic devices used are similar to those of artificial satellites.

参考译文——气球天文学

火箭和人造卫星可以飞离电离层很远，甚至可以从地球逃逸。然而，它们复杂且昂贵，在目前的发展阶段，它们无法承载大型望远镜上升，在进行观测时保持其稳定，然后安全返回。气球更容易操作，而且便宜得多。它们的主要限制是不能上升到电离层。8万到9万英尺的高度是可以合理预期的，因此气球载仪器对紫外线天文学或X射线天文学的贡献很小。尽管如此，气球还是有很多值得称道的地方，因为它至少可以在大部分大气层上携带重型设备，从而消除图像的模糊和不稳定。此外，低层空气中的水蒸气和二氧化碳吸收了行星向我们发出的大部分红外辐射，气球上升很容易克服这一问题。热气球可以追溯到1783年，在第一次飞行的几个月内，一位名叫查尔斯的法国科学家乘坐自由气球上升了两英里。然而，这些粗糙的飞行器无法媲美现代科学气球，后者目前已成为一种重要的研究工具。主要开发工作由M.Schwarlschild和他的团队在美国普林斯顿大学，与美国海军、美国国家科学基金会和美国国家航空航天局合作完成。1959年的“同温层观测镜（Stratoscope）”飞行，主要是关于太阳的研究，取得了显著的成功，该项目已被扩展。使用二代同温层观测镜（Stratoscope II），从观测镜到发射气球顶部的总高度为666英尺，气球总重量超过2吨，如果在夜间保持高度，则携带另外2吨压舱物，以备日后释放。观测镜及其控制装置重3.5吨。还携带了两个大降落伞；在紧急情况下，可将仪器及其记录与主气球系统分离，并轻轻放下。使用的许多无线电和电子设备与人造卫星的类似。

注：博主基于百度翻译校译而成

参考资料：

https://nce.koolearn.com/20210619/792034.html