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【中文标题】中国探测两英里水深国界
【原文标题】China Explores a Frontier 2 Miles Deep
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【来源地址】http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/science/12deepsea.html
【译者】vertex
【翻译方式】人工
【声明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【原文库链接】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-266267-1-1.html
【译文】
When three Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine early this summer, they did more than simply plant their nation’s flag on the dark seabed.
当今年夏天三名中国科学家乘坐一个小潜艇潜到中国南海底部时，他们做得不仅仅是将中国国旗插在黑暗的海底。
The men, who descended more than two miles in a craft the size of a small truck, also signaled Beijing’s intention to take the lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources that the Chinese would like to mine. And many of those resources happen to lie in areas where China has clashed repeatedly with its neighbors over territorial claims.
科学家们在一个小型卡车大小的潜水器中下潜了2英里多，这表明了北京想要领先在遥远不易到达的海底进行探测工作的意图，南海海底有中国期望开采的丰富的石油，矿藏和其它资源。这众多的资源所在正是中国与其邻国反复发生领土争端的地方。
After the flag planting, which was done in secret but recorded in a video, Beijing quickly turned the feat of technology into a show of bravado.
当国旗秘密插入海底，并被录像记录后，北京立刻大张旗鼓的展示了这段高科技的表演。
“It is a great achievement,” Liu Feng, director of the dives, was quoted as saying by China Daily, an English-language newspaper, which telegraphs government positions to the outside world.
“这是伟大的壮举，”潜水计划的总指挥刘峰对中国日报，一家英语新闻报纸说，这家报纸对外报道政府的立场。
The global seabed is littered with what experts say is trillions of dollars’ worth of mineral nodules as well as many objects of intelligence value: undersea cables carrying diplomatic communications, lost nuclear arms, sunken submarines and hundreds of warheads left over from missile tests.
专家说全球的海底散布着价值连城的矿产资源和情报资源：传递外交信息的海底电缆、废弃的核武器，沉没的潜水器和无数的导弹试射弹头。
While a single small craft cannot reel in all these treasures, it does put China in an excellent position to go after them.
尽管这个小型潜水器并不能带走这些宝贝，但就开采来说，它确实使中国处于有利的位置。“They’re in it for a penny and a pound,” said Don Walsh, a pioneer of deep-ocean diving who recently visited the submersible and its makers in China. “It’s a very deliberate program.”
“他们希望能从中获利（这个翻的对不？）”深海潜水的先驱Don Walsh说，他最近参观了中国这个潜艇和其设计者，“这绝对是蓄谋已久的计划。”
The small craft that made the trip — named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon — was unveiled publicly late last month after eight years of secretive development. It is designed to go deeper than any other in the world, giving China access to 99.8 percent of the ocean floor.
执行计划的小型潜水器——蛟龙号，来源于神话中一种海龙——在秘密发展8年后，上个月被公开了。其设计潜深比其它潜水器都深些，使中国可以成功探测99.8%的洋底。
Technically, it is a submersible. These craft differ from submarines in their small size, their need for a mother ship on the surface, and their ability to dive extraordinarily far despite the darkness and the crushing pressures. The world has only a few.
技术上来说，这是个潜水器。但是与同型潜水器不同，他们需要一个海面上的母船，并且不受黑暗和巨大压力的影响可以潜至极深。世界上只有少数可以做到。
Jiaolong is meant to go as deep as 7,000 meters, or 4.35 miles, edging out the current global leader. Japan’s Shinkai 6500 can go as deep as 6,500 meters, outperforming craft “all over the world,” according to its makers. Russia, France and the United States lag further behind in the game of going deep.
蛟龙号可以潜7000米，即4.35英里，比当今全球记录更深些。日本的shinkai6500号可以潜6500 米，据其设计者说已是世界第一了。俄罗斯、法国和美国依次排后。
American experts familiar with the Chinese undersea program say it is unusual in that Beijing has little experience in the daunting field. As a result, China is moving cautiously. Jiaolong’s sea trials began quietly last year and are to continue until 2012, its dives going deeper in increments.
熟知中国深海计划的美国专家说中国在这一领域并无过多经验。因此，在蛟龙号去年秘密启动时中国一直很谨慎，直到2012年潜入更深。“They’re being very cautious,” Dr. Walsh said. “They respect what they don’t know and are working hard to learn.”
“他们一直非常小心，”威尔士博士说，“他们尊重其未知领域，并努力学习。”
In an interview, Dr. Walsh said that the Chinese were especially interested in avoiding the embarrassment of a disaster that ends with the aquanauts’ entrapment or death. “If I’m the new kid on the block,” he said, “I’m going to make sure that I’ve got bragging rights.”
在一份采访中，威尔士博士说中国一直很关注避免出现潜水员被捕或死亡等灾难带来的尴尬。“如果我是个新手，我就会确保自己有了炫耀的权利。”
Still, China is already waving flags. The move resembles how Russian scientists, in the summer of 2007, plunged through the ice pack at the North Pole and planted their flag on the bottom of the ocean. Upon surfacing, the explorers declared that the feat had strengthened Moscow’s claims to nearly half the Arctic seabed.
不过，中国仍然欢欣鼓舞。这一举动与07年俄罗斯潜入北极冰盖下将国旗插入海底类似。同样的，探测者们宣布了这一壮举增加了莫斯科在近一半北极地区的力量。
Wang Weizhong, a Chinese vice minister of science and technology, said that the Jiaolong’s sea trials “marked a milestone” for China and global exploration. The recent successes of the craft, he said in late August at a news conference in Beijing, “laid a solid foundation for its practical application in resource surveys and scientific research.”
王伟东，中国科技部副部长说蛟龙号的海底之行是中国和世界探险史的里程碑。他在8月北京一次会议上说，最近这次潜水的成功，“为资源探测的实际应用和科学研究奠定了基础。”But at least one senior Chinese expert questioned what he called “the current propaganda.” The expert, Weicheng Cui, a professor at the China Ship Scientific Research Center, which is building the submersible, said Thursday in an e-mail that the craft’s sea trials had steered clear of contested islands “to avoid any diplomatic issues.”
尽管如此，还是有一名资深中国专家质疑这所谓的“当前的宣传”，崔伟成（音）是制造这个潜水器的中国船舶科学研究中心的教授，星期四在一份电子邮件中说这个潜水实验明显避开了有争议的岛屿，避免“任何外交上的麻烦。”
The flurry of publicity over the flag planting, he said, “is not so helpful for us to complete the project.”
大张旗鼓的宣传插旗事件“对于完成整个实验来说并没多大用。”
China’s splash in the arcane world of submersibles comes after years of singling out major industries and technologies for rapid development. China is rushing to make supercomputers and jumbo jets. With expanding political ambitions and territorial claims in neighboring seas, it has paid special attention to oceanography and building a blue-water navy, one that operates in the deep waters of open oceans.
中国在这些年重要工业和技术快速发展后，在深潜领域也取得了一定成果。中国急于获得超级计算机和喷气式轰炸机。除了在邻近海域不断扩张的政治野心和领土要求外，中国对海洋学非常重视，建设了蓝水海军，掌控深海领域。
The United States once held the submersible lead. In 1960, it sent Dr. Walsh, then a Navy officer, to the ocean’s deepest spot, seven miles down. But over the decades, it lost its edge to France, Russia and, most recently, Japan.
美国曾经是潜水领域的领先者，1960年，曾派一名海军军官威尔士博士潜入海洋最深处7英里。几十年后，法国、俄国、日本相继超过了它。
China began its push in 2002. A few Westerners became aware of the guarded effort when China ordered from Russia the forging of a spherical hull about seven feet wide.
2002年中国开始追赶。当中国从俄罗斯订购了一个7英尺宽的球形铸造船体后，一些西方国家注意到了中国这一秘密行为。
At the heart of any submersible lies the hollow sphere where the aquanauts work. It houses a pilot and two observers, who can peer out of tiny portholes. Typically, a dive into the abyss is an all-day affair, requiring hours to and from the bottom.
在潜水器中央中空的球形就是潜水员们工作的地方，可以容纳一个领航员和两个观察员，通过很小的舷窗向外看。一般来说，潜入这么深的海底需要一整天，来回都需要时间。American experts said China went on a global shopping spree to gather sophisticated gear for its submersible. From the United States, it bought advanced lights, cameras and manipulator arms. Dr. Cui estimated that 40 percent of the craft’s equipment came from abroad.
美国专家说中国为这个潜水器而对精密装置展开了全球采购。从美国购置了高级的照明、拍摄和操作装置。崔博士认为40%的潜水潜装备都来自国外。
China also turned to the United States for tutoring. In 2005, five Chinese trainee pilots and one scientist participated in eight dives on Alvin, the oldest and most famous of the world’s deep-diving craft, which is run by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod. China “bought time on Alvin to gain experience,” according to the Deep Submergence Science Committee, a group that advises the federal government and universities on ocean exploration.
中国向美国寻求指导。2005年，五个中国受训员和一个科学家参加了alvin号上为期8天的潜水，alvin号是世界上最著名的潜水器，由位于科得角的伍兹霍尔海洋学研究所经营。中国“购买了alvin号的潜水来获取经验。”据深潜科学委员会，一个指导联邦政府和大学进行海洋探测的机构说。
Though Alvin can go down only 4,500 meters, or 2.8 miles, it has made thousands of dives and discoveries, and is widely seen among experts as highly productive and well run.
尽管alvin仅能下潜4500米即2.8英里，它已经完成了上千次的潜水和探险，专家称其效率极高并且运转良好。
One of the Chinese trainees was Ye Cong, now a pilot on Jiaolong during its sea trials.
中国其中一名受训员叶丛（音）是蛟龙号这次潜水计划的领航员。
Last year’s tests went as deep as 1,000 meters (about a half mile), and this summer’s as deep as 3,759 meters. Next year Jiaolong is to dive to 5,000 meters and in 2012 reach its maximum depth.
去年的测试下潜深度为1000米（半英里），今年夏天为3759米，明年蛟龙号将潜5000米和2012年将达到它的设计深度。
Dr. Walsh said the flag issue prompted more awkwardness than swagger among those who are building and testing the new submersible.
威尔士博士说插旗事件在制造和测试潜水器的人们中引起了更多的尴尬而不是狂妄。
“We had a laugh about it,” he recalled of his China visit. “I said, ‘Oh, you’re copying the Russians,’ and they kind of giggled. These guys are pretty apolitical and pretty well insulated” from Beijing. “They’re just contractors doing their job.”
“我们都笑了，”他在回想中国之行时说，“我说，‘你们在模仿俄国人’，他们低笑以对。这些人对政治一点不感冒，与北京也没有接触。他们只是在完成自己的工作。” |
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