零重力飛行和太空時代

過去17年里，人類對太空旅遊的好奇以及征服其他星球的慾望與日俱增。甚至連私營公司都積極帶頭募集數百萬資金開展太空實驗，超越了一些國家太空機構如美國國家航空和宇宙航行局(NASA)、俄羅斯聯邦航天局(RFSA)(2000年之前，RFSA壟斷主要的航空技術和太空旅行)、以及在航天行業的研究已經有 80年歷史的中國國家航天局(CNSA)。私營公司如太空探索技術公司(SpaceX)、藍色起源(Blue Origin)、維珍銀河公司(Virgin Galactic)在太空技術上發展良好並且開發了尖端的科技（較低的開發技術成本，對這些公司來說有比較優勢）。然而，在國家機構或私營公司最大化降低太空旅行成本實現商業運營之前，零重力飛機提供的飛行體驗將推動外太空培訓、娛樂和實驗的發展。

Over the last 17 years the curiosity for space travel and colonizing other planets has grown substantially. Even private companies are taking the lead and raising millions of dollars to finance their experiments and go beyond of what government owned agencies like NASA from the US, RFSA from Russia (the agency controlled much of the aeronautical technology and space travel before 2000) and CNSA from China have done over the last 80 years in the aeronautics industry. Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have been able to perform much better and developed cutting-edge technology (at a low-cost which is a competitive advantage for these firms). However, until either government agencies or private companies make space travel cheap enough for commercial purposes the zero gravity aircraft provides this experience that simulates outer space conditions either for training, leisure or experiments.

我們很多人沒有想到的是，自從1949年在德國首次運營以來，零重力飛機已經有70年的歷史了。然而，由於戰事和德國的戰敗，零重力飛機沒有得以起飛。儘管如此，二戰結束後，負責此次項目的工程師(Heinz Haber 和 Fritz Haber)被帶往美國繼續研究，以和俄國進行太空競賽。 NASA立刻開展實驗對宇航員開展無重力訓練，這些宇航員之後加入了阿波羅任務並且製造了一架名為KC-135A的飛機。

Contrary to what many of us think, zero-gravity flights have been around for more than 70 years starting with the first operations in Germany in 1949. However, due to war conditions and the fall of the Germans the project did not take off. Nonetheless, after the end of the Second World War, the engineers who were working on the project (Heinz Haber and Fritz Haber) were taken to the US to compete against the Russians for the space race. NASA immediately developed experiments to simulate weightlessness for its astronauts who later participated in the Apollo missions and in fact manufactured a plane named KC-135A.

然而，由於一些項目人員生病，NASA減少了零重力飛行的實驗。這一情況並沒有阻礙其他國家開展零重力飛行。例如，歐洲太空總署（ESA）自從1984年已經開展了零重力飛行訓練，實際上，ESA與法國政府和空客公司研製了一架零重力飛機(A300 and A310)專門進行訓練。這架零重力飛機的第一次商業飛行是在2015年，晚於美國11年。零重力飛行的價格為每人5,000歐元到7,000歐元之間，儘管人們仍然消費不起，但是自此之後，零重力飛行非常受歡迎。如今，零重力商業飛行的機型為特別定製的波音727也叫重力一號（G-FORCE ONE），以避免給乘員造成傷害。

However, the agency reduced the flights after some of the participants became ill. This fact has not stopped other governments to carry out zero-gravity flights. For instance, the European Space Agency has been carrying out this flight for training since 1984, and in fact, had developed in conjunction with the French government and Airbus a plane conditioned for this practice (A300 and 310) which first commercial flight took place in 2015, eleven years after the US. Since then the flights have become very popular, although the price is not still affordable ranging from €5,000 to €7,000 per person. Today the commercial flights are carried out on a Boeing 727 or G-FORCE ONE specially customized to avoid injuries.

但是零重力飛機的原理是什麼呢？體驗失重狀態的飛機，要經過三個階段。首先，飛機以45度角上升到32,000英尺。其次，飛機到達零重力或者水平的位置，最後，飛機機頭朝下，失重的感覺持續30秒之後以拋物線飛行恢復到正常的軌跡。乘客們能夠體驗不同種類的重力如月球重力（六分之一），火星重力（三分之一）。在記錄的飛行中，人們看起來像是漂浮的，但是實際上，他們進入了和飛機同樣速度的自由落體狀態，這有些像空中跳傘，但卻不受風力的影響。如今，零重力飛行仍然是人類實現的最偉大的成就之一。

But how do zero-gravity flights work? In order to experience the state weightlessness planes, follow a three-stage process. First, the plane reaches 32,000 feet with an angle of 45 degrees. Secondly, the plane reached the ZERO-G or a flat position and lastly the plane puts the nose down and the weightlessness sensation lasts for 30 seconds to recover normal trajectory through the parabolic manoeuvre. Travellers can experience different types of gravity like Lunar (1/6th) or Martian (1/3rd). In the documented trips people seem to be floating but in reality, they enter in a state of free fall at the same speed of the plane, which is compared to sky diving but protected from the wind. However, this continues to be one of the greatest achievement of human kind that now is at the reach of people.

航空學和太空旅行已經成為人民、國家和私營企業市場的聯合的象徵。這一聯合推動了創新，有益於社會的發展（零重力飛行就是其中一例）。這樣的創新能夠使我們探索更遙遠的太空。同時，正如擁有太空飛船的Virgin Galactic和擁有獵鷹重型火箭(Falcon Heavy)的SpaceX許諾的一樣，這樣的創新也使我們在某種情況下參與其中。

Aeronautics and space travel have become a symbol of unification among people and nations and a market for private companies which, in turn, is good as they will trigger innovation (as it was the case of zero-gravity flights). Such innovation can take us further into space and at some point be part of it as companies like Virgin Galactic with its spaceship and SpaceX with Falcon Heavy have promised.

作者：Alvaro Arango

編輯：Franchesca Di Tella

翻譯：Fei Xu

布魯克菲爾德國際航空

Brookfield Aviation

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