Humans have really cluttered up the cosmos. It's estimated we've left behind over 100 million pieces of space junk since we first started exploring in 1957. But Japan wants to clean up our act. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a craft called Kounotori, which they hope will help collect some of our space debris.
人類真的把宇宙弄得亂七八糟。據估計，我們留下超過一億件太空垃圾，打從我們最初在 1957 年開始太空探索起。不過日本想要改正我們的錯誤。日本宇宙航空研究開發機構發射一艘名為「鸛」的飛船，他們希望這艘飛船將能協助收拾一些我們的太空殘骸。
The launch is just a test, but here's how it should work: A magnetic tether about six football fields in length will be released from the ship; then the energy the tether creates should slow space junk enough that it'll naturally fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. Space junk can zip around Earth at speeds as high as 17,500 miles per hour, and that's risky for the stuff in orbit we still use. Plus, junk can create more junk by breaking up into smaller pieces.
這次升空只是個測試，但它的運作方式應該是這樣：一條約六座足球場長的帶磁力繫繩會從船上釋放；接著繫繩產生的能量應該要使太空垃圾降到夠慢的速度，讓它自然墜回地球並在大氣中燒毀。太空垃圾可以以高達一萬七千五百英里的時速快速繞行地球，而那對我們仍在軌道上使用的物品是個威脅。此外，垃圾可以碎成更小塊而製造出更多垃圾。
In fact, in August 2011, the crew aboard the International Space Station almost had to evacuate because a small piece of debris shot by the station with very little warning. Not long after, the National Research Council said space debris reached a tipping point.
事實上，2011 年 8 月，國際太空站上的人員們差點就必須撤離，因為有一小塊碎片幾乎無預警地從太空站旁快速掠過。不久後，國際研究委員會表示太空殘骸已達到臨界點。
The European Space Agency is planning for a similar mission for 2023, but that will use a giant net to capture debris and burn it up in the atmosphere.
歐洲太空總署計劃在 2023 年執行一項類似計劃，不過那將會使用一張巨網來捕獲碎片，並在大氣中將之燃燒殆盡。
