Orbiting The Earth

凱倫

同學(xué)們，你們知道衛(wèi)星都做著什么工作嗎？一起來看看吧

Every now and then you may hear news of satellitessent into space. On Feb 21 for example US company SpaceX took 46 satellites into orbit. On Feb 27 China sent 22 satellites into space. Why do we need so many satellites？ What do they do for us？

At present there are more than 3 000 active satellites moving around the Earth according to Statista a German company that works

你可能不時(shí)聽到關(guān)于衛(wèi)星被送入太空的消息。例如 2月21日 美國太空探索技術(shù)公司（SpaceX）將46顆衛(wèi)星送入軌道。2月27日 中國向太空發(fā)射了22顆衛(wèi)星。我們?yōu)槭裁葱枰@么多衛(wèi)星？衛(wèi)星為我們派上了哪些用場？

據(jù)專門從事市場數(shù)據(jù)分析的德國公司Statista的數(shù)據(jù)顯示 目前有3000多顆活躍的衛(wèi)星在圍繞地球運(yùn)行。衛(wèi)星有各種各樣的

on market data. Satellites have all kinds of roles from transmitting TV signals giving you directions on the road to helping scientists with their research.

For example the 22 satellites China just sent up are part of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. Shared bikes that use BeiDou chips can provide more accurate positioning making them easier to find. Drones can also use BeiDou while flying.

Before satellites TV signals didn't reach very far. Mountains or tall buildings would block the signals. Phone calls to faraway places were also a problem. Setting up telephone wires over long distances is difficult. With satellites TV signals and phone calls can be sent directly to a satellite and back down to different locations on Earth. SpaceX's Starlink project is trying to go further. It plans to use satellites to provide people with internet all over the globe.

Satellites can also provide information about clouds oceans land and ice. They help scientists predict changes in weather and climate. By monitoring wildfires and volcanoes satellites help emergency workers deal with natural disasters. Farmers can use satellite images to decide the best time to water their fields.

Some satellites fly near other planets. They may look for water on Mars or take closeup pictures of Saturn's rings. In 2020 video website Bilibili sent a satellite into space. Its job is to look at other planets and share the pictures and videos with Bilibili's users.

作用 從傳輸電視信號(hào) 到為你導(dǎo)航 再到幫助科學(xué)家開展研究。

例如 中國剛剛發(fā)射的22顆衛(wèi)星就是北斗衛(wèi)星導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)的一部分。搭載北斗芯片的共享單車可以提供更精確的定位 也更容易讓人們找到。無人機(jī)飛行時(shí)也可以使用北斗系統(tǒng)。

在有衛(wèi)星之前 電視信號(hào)沒法到達(dá)很遠(yuǎn)的地方 因?yàn)楦呱交蚋邩菚?huì)阻擋信號(hào)。給遙遠(yuǎn)的地方打電話也是個(gè)問題 架設(shè)長途電話線十分困難。而有了衛(wèi)星 電視信號(hào)和電話可以直接發(fā)送到衛(wèi)星上 然后傳回地球的不同位置。美國太空探索技術(shù)公司的“星鏈”項(xiàng)目希望衛(wèi)星能起更大作用 該項(xiàng)目計(jì)劃利用衛(wèi)星向全球各地的人們提供互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。

衛(wèi)星還可以提供關(guān)于云、海洋、陸地和冰的信息 以便科學(xué)家預(yù)測天氣和氣候的變化。通過監(jiān)測野火和火山 衛(wèi)星幫助緊急救援人員應(yīng)對自然災(zāi)害。農(nóng)民還可以利用衛(wèi)星圖像來判定灌溉農(nóng)田的最佳時(shí)間。

有些衛(wèi)星會(huì)在其他星球附近飛行。這些衛(wèi)星或是在火星上尋找水 或是拍攝土星環(huán)的特寫照片。2020年 視頻網(wǎng)站嗶哩嗶哩將一顆衛(wèi)星送入太空。這顆衛(wèi)星負(fù)責(zé)觀察其他星球 并與嗶哩嗶哩用戶共享圖片和視頻。