宏浩翻譯有限公司

◎李信漢

Flying people to deep space -- like Mars or an asteroid -- is high on NASA’s wish list, but research on mice suggested that extended radiation exposure permanently harms the brain.

讓人類航行到太空深處——像是火星或是小行星——是美國航太總署渴求的願望，但在老鼠身上的研究顯示，長時間暴露於輻射線會對大腦造成永久傷害。

Central nervous system damage and cognitive impairments were observed in lab animals that were exposed to highly energetic charged particles -- similar to the galactic cosmic rays that astronauts would encounter during long space flights -- said researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

加州大學爾灣分校的研究人員說，他們觀察實驗室裡動物暴露於高能帶電粒子下，中樞神經系統損害和認知能力損傷的情況——這種高能帶電粒子類似銀河宇宙線，太空人可能在長時間的太空飛行中遇到。

"This is not positive news for astronauts deployed on a two- to three-year round trip to Mars," said lead author Charles Limoli, professor of radiation oncology in UCI’s School of Medicine.

「這對被指派進行一趟2至3年航向火星旅程的太空人來說，不是好消息」，研究報告的第一作者李莫利說，他是加州大學爾灣分校醫學院輻射腫瘤學教授。

"Performance decrements, memory deficits, and loss of awareness and focus during spaceflight may affect mission-critical activities, and exposure to these particles may have long-term adverse consequences to cognition throughout life."

「活動表現能力減緩、記憶力喪失，以及在太空飛行過程中失去意識和專注力，可能影響關鍵任務的行動，而暴露於這些粒子中，可能對認知能力造成終生的長期負面結果。」

Currently, the world’s astronauts rotate in shifts that last about six months at the International Space Station.

目前，全球的太空人按班表輪班，每次約持續6個月待在國際太空站上。

NASA is aiming to send people to Mars in the 2030s, but skeptics say the technology is nowhere near ready, nor is it clear that such travel would be safe for people to undertake.（AFP）

美國航太總署計畫在2030年代將太空人送上火星，但質疑者認為，目前的科技根本還沒準備好，更別說也不清楚這樣的太空旅行是否夠安全來讓人類執行。（法新社）

新聞辭典

permanently：副詞，永久地。例句：Prolonged exposure to the sun can cause permanent skin damage.（長時間曝曬於太陽下可能造成永久性的皮膚傷害。）

impairment：名詞，損傷。例句：The loud noise caused impairment of her hearing.（大聲的噪音造成她聽力受損。）

undertake：動詞，進行，從事。例句：The researchers undertook a series of studies.（研究人員進行一系列研究。）