莎拉此前曾被评为“年度科学记者”，并在编辑协会新闻奖中获得高度赞扬。她因报道新冠疫情和露西·莱特比案而为人所知。英国夏令时下午5:01 一艘航天器将被送往太阳系外最近的恒星，踏上为期8万年的旅程，这是人类迈向星际旅行的第一步。
Sarah has previously been named Science Journalist of the Year and was Highly Commended at the Society of Editors Press Awards. She is known for her coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Lucy Letby case 5:01pm BST A spacecraft is to be sent on an 80,000-year journey to the nearest star outside the Solar System in humankind’s first step to interstellar travel.
“费米探索者”任务计划于2028年发射，将搭载科学仪器，在前往比邻星的途中开展研究。比邻星距离地球4.4光年。
The Fermi Explorer mission, which is due to launch in 2028, will carry scientific instruments for research en route to the star Proxima Centauri, which is 4.4 light years away from Earth.
科学家永远无法看到他们实验的结果，因为这艘飞船需要数万年时间才能走完约25.8万亿英里、抵达目的地。
Scientists will never see the outcomes of their experiments, because it will take tens of thousands of years for the craft to travel the approximately 25.8 trillion miles to its destination.
一段概念视频显示，该航天器在大约公元81528年抵达漂浮在半人马座阿尔法星系中的一座未来主义空间站，在那里受到未来人类的迎接，并作为太空飞行黎明时期的重要遗物而受到庆祝。
A concept video shows the craft reaching a futuristic space station floating in the Alpha Centauri system in around the year 81,528, where it is greeted by future humans and celebrated as an important artefact from the dawn of spaceflight.
卡姆·加法里安在特内里费岛举行的“星 mus”节上概述了这项任务。他说：“我相信人类的目的地是走向星际。我们的想法是，在2028年，我们将从地球发射有史以来第一颗前往比邻星的卫星。这将需要数千年时间，但其想法是激励下一代。”在一段关于“费米探索者”任务的视频中，航天器被展示在8万年后的未来受到未来人类的迎接。
加法里安是Axiom Space和Intuitive Machines的创始人，这两家公司正与美国国家航空航天局合作，为“阿耳忒弥斯”任务提供设备。他补充说：“很多人认为目的地是月球，而我要说的是，月球不是目的地。它实际上只是开始。
The mission was outlined by Kam Ghaffarian at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife. He said: “I believe humanity’s destination is to become interstellar. Our idea is, in 2028 we’re going to launch the first satellite ever from Earth to Proxima Centauri. It’s going to take many thousands of years but the idea is to inspire the next generation.”In a video about the Fermi Explorer mission, the spacecraft is shown being greeted by future humans 80,000 years from now Mr Ghaffarian, a founder of Axiom Space and Intuitive Machines, which are working with Nasa to provide equipment for Artemis missions, added: “A lot of people think the destination is the Moon, and I’m here to say that the Moon is not the destination. It’s really the beginning.
“月球是我们需要建设基础设施的第一个地方，以便能够从月球发射，前往火星和其他行星，并最终前往其他地方。”
“The Moon is the first place where we need to build the infrastructure to be able to have launches from the Moon to go to Mars and other planets and eventually other places.
“我相信到2050年，我们将能够实现每小时一次的太空发射任务，将人类送往位于地球轨道外的太空城市；在那里，人们可以生活和工作，同时那里也会具备人造重力环境。这座太空城市将成为一个巨大的科研基地，用于研发能够治愈癌症的微重力技术。到时候，当人们被问及自己的出身地时，他们会自豪地说：‘我来自月球。’”
“随后，我们还将实现每周一次的火星发射任务，在火星上建立人类居住和工作的基地；未来或许还会每隔一个月或三个月执行一次飞出太阳系的探测任务，尤其是前往距离我们最近的恒星——半人马座比邻星。”
“I believe by 2050 we will have hourly launches to a space city that sits outside our planet, where people are living and working, we have artificial gravity, and it becomes a huge factory where we can create microgravity technologies that will cure cancer. You will have people that when they say where you’re from, they say, ‘I’m from the Moon’.
目前，唯一离开过太阳系的人造物体是美国宇航局的‘旅行者1号’和‘旅行者2号’探测器。而‘费米探测器’将成为首个被发射到另一个恒星系的航天器。”
“Then we have weekly launches to the surface of Mars, where again we have a Mars base where people are living and working, and maybe bi-monthly or quarterly missions beyond our solar system, especially to our closest star Proxima Centauri.”A futuristic space station floating in the Alpha Centauri system The only man-made objects to leave our Solar System to date are Nasa’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. The Fermi spacecraft would be first to be launched to another star system.
‘费米探测器’将携带与‘旅行者号’相同的‘黄金唱片’（Golden Record），其中包含数学公式、地球上的植物、动物和风景图片、用55种语言录制的问候语、音乐、鸟鸣声、人类的脚步声和笑声，以及吉米·卡特（Jimmy Carter）留下的书面信息。此外，探测器上还会收录来自世界各地儿童的新祝福信息。
The spacecraft will carry a copy of the Golden Record that flew with Voyager and includes mathematical formulas, images of plants, animals and landscapes on Earth, spoken greetings in 55 languages, music, sounds of birdsong, footsteps, laughter and a written message from Jimmy Carter. It will also contain new messages from children around the world.
之所以选择半人马座比邻星作为目标，是因为它距离地球最近，且位于夜空中非常容易辨认。任务控制人员表示，他们希望当探测器开始航行后，人类能够找到这个恒星系统，从而知道人类已经向那里发送了探测器。
The Alpha Centauri star system was chosen because it is the closest, is moving towards Earth and is easy to find in the night sky. Mission controllers said they hoped once the spacecraft was on its way, people could locate the star system and know humanity had sent something there.
‘费米探测器’预计将在2043年左右离开太阳系；科学家预测，在未来几个世纪里，随着技术的进步，许多其他航天器也会经过该恒星系统。
The Fermi Explorer is due to leave the Solar System around the year 2043, and scientists predict it will be passed by many other spacecraft on its journey as technology improves in the coming centuries.
研究团队明确呼吁未来的智慧生命不要拦截这艘探测器，让它继续完成它的旅程——因为这将是宇宙中最重要的“人类遗产”之一。
The team said they were making an “explicit request to future humans and intelligences” not to intercept the spacecraft and let it continue on its voyage as it would be “one of the most important artefacts in the universe”.
“费米探测器”预计将于2043年左右离开太阳系。该任务的联合创始人兼负责人菲利普·约翰斯顿（Philip Johnston）表示：“我们希望成为第一个离开太阳系、同时也是最后一个抵达半人马座阿尔法星（Alpha Centauri）的探测器。当这次旅程结束时，我们所有人都已经不在人世了——而这正是我们的目标所在。”
The Fermi Explorer is due to leave the Solar System around the year 2043 Philip Johnston, co-founder and president of the Fermi Explorer Mission, said: “We hope to be both the first to leave and the last to arrive at Alpha Centauri. None of us will be here when this journey ends, and that is the point.
“我们的任务在于迈出第一步，激励后代不断突破我们继承来的种种限制。”半人马座阿尔法星在夜空中正朝西北方向移动，因此探测器并不会直接前往它当前的位置，而是前往79,500年后它所在的位置——那时该位置属于巨蟹座（Cancer）的范围内。
“It’s about taking the first achievable step and inspiring future generations to keep pushing beyond the limits we inherited.”Alpha Centauri is moving north-west in the night sky, so the spacecraft will not be aiming for its current location, but where it will be in 79,500 years, a part of the sky in which the constellation Cancer now sits.
这项任务以恩里科·费米（Enrico Fermi）的名字命名；费米提出了著名的“费米悖论”（Fermi Paradox），该悖论质疑：既然存在高度可能存在的智慧外星文明，为什么它们从未访问过地球？
The mission is named after Enrico Fermi, who gave his identity to the Fermi Paradox, which questions why, if there is such a high likelihood of intelligent extraterrestrial civilisations, they have never visited Earth.
目前，研究团队正在筹集1500万美元（约合1100万英镑）来资助这项任务，并呼吁科学家们提出可以安装在探测器上的科学仪器和艺术作品。
The team is in the process of raising $15m (about £11m) to fund the mission, and have called for scientists to propose instruments and artworks to be placed on the spacecraft.
探测器将携带与“旅行者号”（Voyager）探测器相同的“黄金记录”（Golden Record），其中包含人类文明的信息。此外，探测器还配备了用于捕捉星际尘埃颗粒的微陨石捕捉装置（采用气凝胶材料制成），以及一种放射性同位素时钟，以便发现探测器的人能够通过其衰变速率来确定探测器的发射时间。
The spacecraft will carry a copy of the same Golden Record that flew with Voyager Scientific projects being considered include micrometeoroid “witness plates” with aerogel tiles to capture interstellar dust grains as well as a radioisotope clock so that whoever finds the spacecraft can date the launch by the rate of decay.
不过，研究团队也提醒道：“对于大多数传感器来说，我们可能要等到大约8万年后才能收到这些仪器传回的数据。”目前，研究团队正在向主要的卫星制造商招标，同时仍在讨论探测器的能源供应方案。由于探测器仅配备了一个小型天线，因此一旦它离开太阳系，就无法再与其进行通信了。
However, they were warned: “Scientists should expect that for most sensors, we will likely not get data back from these instruments for around 80,000 years.”The mission is about to go out to open tender to major satellite manufacturers, and the team said it was still deciding how it would be powered. It will also only carry a small antenna, so it will no longer be contacted once it leaves the Solar System.
“这项任务最令人振奋的地方在于：人们无需等待许可或理想的条件，就可以参与其中，”负责项目日常执行的美国前空军军官加勒特·詹姆斯顿（Garrett Jameson）说道。
“The most inspiring part of this mission is that people do not have to wait for permission or perfect conditions,” said Garrett Jameson, a former US air force officer who leads day-to-day execution.
“我们可以接受这些限制，建设当下可能实现的事物，并为下一代留下一些有意义的东西供其继续建设。”如果发射成功，该团队希望再发射一艘飞船前往仙女座星系，他们估计这需要十亿年才能离开我们的银河系并抵达另一个星系。
“We can embrace the constraints, build what is possible now, and give the next generation something meaningful to build upon.”If the launch is a success, the team wants to send another spacecraft to the Andromeda galaxy, which they estimate would take one billion years to leave our Milky Way galaxy and reach another.
此前从未发射过前往其他恒星的任务，尽管斯蒂芬·霍金教授曾提出“突破摄星”计划，利用光束将一艘微型飞船推向半人马座阿尔法星。
No mission to another star has been launched before, although Prof Stephen Hawking proposed the Breakthrough Starshot mission to blast a small raft to Alpha Centauri using a light beam.