这个薄而微小的芯片
This tiny little wafer thin chip
可能比下面这种探索太空的方法更好
could be a better way to explore space than this
对太空的“淘金热”你可以说
And the gold rush to space you can say
我们就像一把铲子
we’re like the shovel.
从前 娜塔莉亚•贝利有为美国国家航空和宇宙航行局工作的伟大梦想
Once upon a time Natalya Bailey had big dreams of working for NASA.
晚上我会睡在自己的蹦床上看星星
I would sleep on my trampoline at night and watch the stars
想象着外星人并看着太空站从头顶经过
and thinking about aliens and watching the Space Station pass overhead
我连续两次向美国宇航局申请成为宇航员
and I you know went on to apply to NASA twice to become an astronaut
都只收到他们寄来的感谢卡片
and have gotten there thanks but no thanks postcards from NASA
但我会继续申请的
but I’ll keep applying.
所以她不得不勉强同意做一名普通的火箭科学家
So she had to settle for being a plain old rocket scientist
以及Accion公司的创办成员
and a founding member of Accion systems
即一家用这些微小的芯片作引擎的
a startup poised to revolutionize space travel
即将革新太空旅行的初创公司
with these wafer thin chips that believe it or not our engines.
近地轨道对某些机构 大学 业余爱好者以及他们的飞机库
Low earth orbit is becoming more and more accessible to organizations，
越来越容易进入
universities，hobbyists and their garages.
人们在此之前甚至从来没想过发射一颗卫星
People that before never would have even imagined launching a satellite.
我们正在谈论的
So we’re talking about you know tens
下一个十年会发射成千上万的卫星
of thousands of satellites being launched over the
但是目前它们还没有推进装置
next decade and currently they have no propulsion solutions
那就是Accion正在建设的
and that’s what Accion is building
一个在小型卫星上运转的引擎
is an engine that works on small satellites.
这就是真实的火箭科学
OK this is actually rocket science,
所以至少下面这些是你需要知道的
so here’s the bare minimum you need to know，
离子是一种带电的原子粒子
an ion is a charged atomic particle,
我们将离子液体(基本上是一种熔融盐)
by pushing ionic liquid which is basically
装进这个只有一便士大小的芯片中
a molten salt into this chip the size of a penny,
那么数十亿的离子
billions of ions
便能以惊人的速度释放出来
can be discharged at mind boggling velocities.
如果你能想象一个宇航员
If you could picture an astronaut sitting
坐在卫星的后面
on the back of a satellite
她把网球向后面扔
and she’s throwing tennis balls off
每次她把网球扔出去
the back, each time she throws a tennis ball
卫星就会朝相反的方向移动一点
off the satellite moves a little bit in the opposite direction.
在Accion的引擎里这些网球实际上是离子
In Accion’s engine these tennis balls are actually ions,
而我们最小的
and our smallest ion
离子引擎大约是一副纸牌大小
engine is about the size of a pack of cards.
现在我们仍然需要传统的火箭来逃离地球的重力
Now we still need conventionalrockets to escape Earth’s gravity.
但是一旦进入太空
But once in space，Accion’s chip
Accion的芯片会延长卫星外壳的使用寿命
will increase the shelf life of satellites by years,
最终使无需化学推进火箭的
and eventually enable deep space travel
外太空旅行成为可能
without chemical propulsion rockets.
我们的引擎操作没有任何的火焰或者很大的噪音
Our engines operate without any fire flames or loud noises，
所以它们不像猎鹰重型火箭那样震耳欲聋
so they’re not quite as visceral as say
但却非常高效
a Falcon Heavy rocket for example, but they’re very efficient.
这是一个Berkut
This is a Berkut，
它是一个鸭翼推进器
it’s a canard pusher
有点像我们的家庭用车
and it’s kind of like our family car.
我一直都想成为一个宇航员
I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut.
而飞行次之
And aviation is kind of like the next best thing.
幸运的是我嫁给了一个飞行员
Fortunately I married a pilot
并且在这里养育了一个最年轻的飞行员
and were raising the youngest pilot here.
最初的电力推进引擎实际上是在50年代和60年代发展起来的
The first electric propulsion engines were actually developed in the 50s and 60s，
但在那之后它们基本上就被搁置了
but they were largely ignored after that,
似乎在我上大学的时候
and it seemed to me during college that there was this
火箭科学的整个部门都急需革新
whole branch of rocket science just waiting to be advanced.
娜塔莉亚的研究正飞速进行
Natalya’s studies accelerated at such a rapid pace，
而当她还是一名理科生的时候
she had to learn what it meant to own a business
不得不去学习拥有一家企业意味着什么
while still a student of science.
我认为我没有天生的商业头脑
I don’t think business comes naturally to me.
我在MIT实验室完成实验时
I was in a lab at MIT trying to finish up experiments
就带着耳机听如何成为一名初创公司的CEO
with headphones on listening to how to be a startup CEO
并且努力在工作中学习
and trying to learn on the job essentially.
目前我们的长期客户是
Our serious long term customers are right now people like
国防部以及像洛克希德马丁和波音这样的
the Department of Defense and folks like Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
但我们第一次将它推销出去
But our first fight delivery that went out the door
实际上是在欧文高中
was actually to Irvine high school.
一群高中学生打算发射一个
So a group of high school students is going to be
上面有我们系统的立方体
launching a cube sat with our system on it.
在向从学生到国防部的每一个人
After hawking these chips to everyone
兜售这些芯片后
from school kids to the Department of Defense,
娜塔莉亚希望Accion
Natalya envisions Accion playing aneven
在太空探索中扮演更重要的角色
larger role in space exploration.
向火星或半人马座阿尔法星发射
Shoot for Mars or Alpha Centauri.
这是一个相当大胆的宏伟目标
It’s pretty a B Hag, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
你的整个职业生涯都是这样吗？
Is that sort of like your whole career bascially?
是的
Yes.
还需要其他的方式吗？
Why would you have any other way?