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Are we smarter than the dinosaurs? Specifically, are we clever enough to avoid their fate? If we don’t want to be blown away by an asteroid, it would help to know what’s out there. That’s the idea behind the Sentinel mission.
我们比恐龙聪明？具体来说，我们的头脑是否够聪明，懂得如何避免与恐龙一样的命运？如果我们不想被小星星撞击毁灭，那么了解外面的世界会对我们有所帮助。
Sentinel is an infrared space telescope designed to spot near-Earth asteroids. But it won’t be near-Earth. It will launch in 2017 or '18 and adopt a Venus-like orbit around the sun. From there it will search space for any asteroids that might come dangerously close to Earth. It could double the known count of near-Earth asteroids in a matter of weeks. With enough warning, we’d have a chance to deflect an inbound asteroid.
Sentinel是一种红外太空望远镜，被设计用来探测地球附近的小行星。但是它不在地球表面探测。计划2017-2018年间将其发射到太空，以类似金星的轨道围绕太阳转动。在那里它会探测太空，以发现靠地球太近，造成威胁的小行星。它能在大约几个星期内就检测出两倍于目前已知数量的近地小行星。有了足够的预警，我们就有机会转移入站小行星。
Sentinel is the brainchild of the B612 Foundation. B612 was the asteroid home of literature’s Little Prince. The group announced their plans for Sentinel on June 28th.
Sentinel是B612基金会的智慧结晶。B612就是小王子在小行星上的家。基金组织于6月28日宣布了Sentinel计划。
But those plans depend on funding. The B612 Foundation is a nonprofit that aims to finance Sentinel through philanthropy. Former NASA astronaut Ed Lu heads the foundation. He says Sentinel needs a few hundred million dollars to get off the ground.
但是这个项目需要资金。B612基金会是非盈利组织，致力于通过慈善事业为Sentinel筹集资金。前NASA宇航员卢杰为基金会的领导人。他说道，将Sentinel送离地球需要几百万美金。
That’s a lot of cash, but the B612 Foundation might make it. After all, when it comes to fundraising, humans leave the dinosaurs in the dust.
这是笔很大的数目，但是B612基金会或许办得到。总之，一涉及到募资筹款，人们就把恐龙抛到脑后了。
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