【中文标题】X-37B航天飞机对中国从事”间谍“活动
【原文标题】spaceplane ‘spying on China’
America's classified X-37B spaceplane is probably spying on China, according to a report in Spaceflight magazine.
根据《航天杂志》（Spaceflight magazine）的报告，美国机密的X - 37B航天飞机可能在对中国从事间谍活动。
The unpiloted vehicle was launched into orbit by the US Air Force in March last year and has yet to return to Earth.
The Pentagon has steadfastly refused to discuss its mission but amateur space trackers have noted how its path around the globe is nearly identical to China's spacelab, Tiangong-1.
这一无人驾驶飞行器是由美国空军在去年三月发射升空并进入轨道，至今仍未返回地球。
尽管五角大楼一直拒绝向外界透露它的任务，业余空间观测爱好者们却注意到它环绕地球的路线与中国天宫一号空间站非常相似。
There is wide speculation that the X-37B is eavesdropping on the laboratory.
因此，（人们）广泛猜测X - 37B是在对该空间站进行窃听。
"Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China's nascent space station," said Spaceflight editor Dr David Baker.
“ 一个由传感器和传感器配件所组成的巧妙组合可以使太空对太空监视这一全新的游戏成为可能。我们认为X-37B可能被用来持续对中国这一新生的空间站进行密切的关注。”航天杂志编辑，大卫贝克博士说。
The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), looks like a mini space shuttle and can glide back down through the atmosphere to land on a runway, just like Nasa's re-usable manned spaceplane used to do before its retirement last July.
X-37B，也被称为“轨道测试飞行器”（OTV），看起来像一个小的太空梭，并且就像美国宇航局（NASA）去年七月全部退役的载人航天飞机所能完成的一样，能够穿过大气层回到地球并在机场降落。
Built by Boeing, the Air Force's robotic craft is about 9m long and has a payload bay volume similar to that of a small van. But what goes in the payload bay, the USAF will not discuss.
这架由波音公司制造的，隶属于美国空军的无人驾驶飞船约9米长，拥有一个体积类似小货车的有效载荷舱。但是，美国空军不会探讨这个载荷舱中究竟搭载着什么。
The current mission was launched on an Atlas rocket and put into a low orbit, a little over 300km up, with an inclination of 42.79 degrees with respect to the equator - an unusual profile for a US military mission which would normally go into an orbit that circles the poles.
(X-37B)当前的任务是通过阿特拉斯（Atlas）火箭进入一个略高于300公里，与赤道交角42.79°的近地轨道— 一个美国在执行军事任务时环绕两级所常用的轨道。
The X-37B's flight has since been followed from the ground by a dedicated group of optical tracking specialists in the US and Europe, intrigued by what the vehicle may be doing.
X - 37B的飞行一直被一群来自欧洲和美国的光电跟踪专家所追踪，他们对X-37B将要干什么很感兴趣。
These individuals have watched how closely its orbit matches that of Tiangong.
这些人都看到了(X-37B)的轨道与天宫有多近。
The spacelab, which China expects to man with astronauts in 2012, was launched in September with an inclination of 42.78 degrees, and to a very similar altitude as the OTV.
这个中国希望能用来在2012年搭载宇航员的太空实验室是在9月发射升空的。（它）的倾角是42.78°，并且和OTV(X-37B)的高度非常接近。
"The parallels with X-37B are clear," Dr Baker says in Spaceflight, the long established magazine of the British Interplanetary Society.
“这与X- 37B的相似之处非常明显”贝克博士，在航天杂志这一英国星际学会中创刊悠久的杂志中说。
"With a period differential of about 19 seconds, the two vehicles will migrate toward or against each other, converging or diverging, roughly every 170 orbits."
“由于两者之间飞行（一个周期）的时间相差19秒，因此每隔170个轨道飞行周期两个飞行器会出现靠近/离开，交汇/分离的情况。
No-one can say for sure what sort of mission the spaceplane is pursuing; all the USAF has said is that the OTV is being used as a testbed for new technologies.
没有人可以肯定这个宇航飞船承担着何种使命；所有美国空军(的人员)都声称OTV(X-37B)只不过被用来测试一些新的技术。
But the suggestion any new sensors in the X-37B might take an interest in Tiangong's telemetry is certainly an interesting one.
关于用X-37B上的各种新型传感器对天宫一号进行的遥感测量的建议当然会让人感兴趣。
Washington retains a deep distrust of Beijing's space ambitions - even its apparently straightforward human spaceflight missions.
华盛顿对呗北京的太空雄心仍存在深深地不信任感-即使它显然只是一个简单的人类太空飞行任务。
Part of the problem is that China draws little distinction between its civilian and military programmes, unlike in other parts of the world, such as Europe, where the bloc's space agency, Esa, is committed by charter to "exclusively peaceful" programmes. European military space projects are the preserve of national governments.
造成这一问题的部分原因是中国民用和军用项目的界限很模糊，不像世界其他地区，如欧洲的航天部门，欧洲航天局(ESA)，是致力于“完全和平”的方案。欧洲军事太空项目是有政府部门所维持的。
In the US, also, that distinction is pretty clear with Nasa being charged with the majority of civilian projects.
在美国也一样，NASA也目标明确的主要为民用项目服务。
In China, on the other hand, the lines are more blurred and the military reaches across all its space programmes.
"If this is what the X-37B is doing, I think it really is no bad thing," Dr Baker told BBC News. "As with the Cold War, the proliferation of space surveillance systems enabled us to get arms agreements that would not have been possible without each side knowing fully what the other side was doing."
但是另一方面，在中国，这种界限更加模糊，并且军事目的贯穿于他的所有太空计划。
“如果是这正是X - 37B现在所做的，我觉得这并不是一件坏事，” 贝克博士(Dr Baker)告诉BBC。 “就像在冷战中，空间监测系统的发展使我们能够达成武器协议。而这在之前，如果双方不充分了解对方的话是不可能的。”
Not everyone is convinced by the latest analysis.
不是所有人都被这个最新的分析所说服。
Brian Weeden is a technical adviser to the Secure World Foundation and a former orbital analyst with the USAF.
He published his own assessment last year of the X-37B's capabilities and role as a platform to trial technologies before they are incorporated into a full-up spy satellite.
布赖恩.威登（Brian Weeden）是世界安全基金会的技术顾问、以及前美国空军轨道分析师。
他出版了自己关于X-37B能力以及作为一个在成为合格间谍卫星前进行的技术测试平台的评论。
Mr Weeden still thinks the Middle East is a more likely target for any new sensors that the X-37B might be carrying.
威登坚持认为，中东仍然最有可能成为X-37B可能携带的新式传感器所针对的目标。
"A typical spy satellite is in a polar orbit, which gives you access to the whole Earth," he told BBC News.
"The X-37B is in a much lower inclination which means it can only see a very narrow band of latitudes, and the only thing that's of real interest in that band is the Middle East and Afghanistan.
“一个典型的间谍卫星应该处于极地轨道，因为这意味着它可以观测的整个地球，”他告诉BBC说：“X - 37B位于一个低得多的斜角，这意味着它只能看到一个非常狭窄的纬度和范围，而在那一地区，唯一有价值的就是中东和阿富汗。
"Is it spying on Tiangong-1? I really don't think so. I think the fact that their orbits intersect every now and again - that's just a co-incidence. If the US really wanted to observe Tiangong, it has enough assets to do that without using X-37B." “它在偷窥天宫一号吗？我真的不这么认为，我觉得的事实是它们的轨道一次次的相交 – 那只是一个巧合.如果美国真的想观察天宫，它有足够的方法根本不需要使用X - 37B“。
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发表于 2012-1-8 14:00
