HURTLING AROUND Earth at roughly seven kilometres a second, even tiny pieces of debris(碎片，残骸) pack quite a punch(威力巨大). Such manmade junk poses a far greater threat to satellites circling in low orbits than natural space rocks do—and the risks are rising.(这类人造垃圾对低轨道卫星构成的威胁远超天然太空岩石，而且风险还在上升。) According to the European Space Agency(欧洲航天局), the amount of rubbish in orbit has more than doubled since 2017.
以大约每秒七公里的速度绕地球飞驰，即便是微小的碎片也能造成巨大冲击。这类人造垃圾对低轨道卫星构成的威胁远超天然太空岩石，而且风险还在上升。据欧洲航天局统计，自2017年以来，轨道上的垃圾数量已增加了一倍多。
Roughly one small satellite in five stops working within a year of launch, estimates(估计，估算) a study published in 2021, and in three-fifths of these cases operators do not know what happened. The smart money is on(多数人认为，行家看好) quite a few such failures being caused by collisions(碰撞) with space debris. To provide more data Odin Space, a firm based in Santa Ana, California, has begun selling a system that uses vibration-sensing(振动传感的) adhesive(粘性的；粘合剂) strips to detect and assess impacts. The results should help settle bets on(确定……的赌注，解决争议) the best shielding for a given orbit.
2021年发表的一项研究估计，大约每五颗小卫星中就有一颗在发射后一年内停止工作，而在这些案例中，有五分之三的运营商不知道发生了什么。多数人认为，相当一部分此类故障是由与太空碎片碰撞造成的。为了提供更多数据，总部位于加州圣安娜的Odin Space公司已开始销售一种系统，利用振动传感粘条来探测和评估撞击。这些结果应有助于确定特定轨道的最佳防护方案。
One long-standing approach to protecting satellites is a Whipple shield—a two-stage affair which places an outlying bumper a few centimetres above a main shield, both of which are typically made of aluminium.(保护卫星的一个长期沿用方案是惠普尔防护盾——一种两级结构，在外层缓冲板与主防护盾之间留出几厘米间距，两者通常都由铝制成。) The bumper(缓冲板，保险杠) breaks an incoming object into a spray of smaller, less energetic fragments that the main shield can then stop more easily. But this arrangement is bulky and heavy. So most satellites simply take their chances behind aluminium(铝) panels stiffened(加固的，增强的) with a honeycomb(蜂窝结构) also made of that metal. These offer only limited protection from debris.
保护卫星的一个长期沿用方案是惠普尔防护盾——一种两级结构，在外层缓冲板与主防护盾之间留出几厘米间距，两者通常都由铝制成。缓冲板将迎面而来的物体击碎成一片更小、能量更低的碎片，主防护盾便能更容易地将其挡住。但这种结构笨重且庞大。因此大多数卫星只能靠铝蜂窝板硬扛，这种板由铝制蜂窝结构加固。它们对碎片的防护能力十分有限。
Shock treatment
冲击疗法