ULTRAFAST PLANE MAY MAKE THE TRIP FROM BEIJING TO NEW YORK CITY IN TWO HOURS-
僅需兩小時的北京到紐約的航程
Chinese scientists are hoping to build a hypersonic plane that would take only two hours to travel from Beijing to New York City—a trip that would usually take more than 13 hours.
中國科學家們正希望建造一種高超音速的飛機，把通常從北京到紐約需要13小時以上的航程，縮短到只需要兩小時。
In order to pull off the fast trip, the plane would have to travel at more than 5 times the speed of sound. The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences who are behind the aircraft—dubbed ‘I-plane’—from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed the details of the aircraft in a paper published in the journal Physics, Mechanics, & Astronomy.
為了快速的航行，飛機必須以超過5倍的音速飛行。背後的中國科學院的研究人員，稱它為「智慧型飛機」的飛機， 在物理學、力學和天文學雜誌上發表的一篇論文中，研究人員透露了這架飛機的細節。
Although it’s far too soon to begin field tests, the authors note that they’ve already begun testing a smaller version of the hypersonic jet in a wind tunnel. Apparently it was able to hit remarkably high speeds without experiencing any oppositional force.
雖然現在開始做野外測試還為時過早，但作者們指出， 他們已經開始在風洞中測試，一個較小版本的高超音速的噴射機。顯然，它能夠達到驚人的高速度，而不會經歷任何阻力。
“It’s a crazy design, but somehow they’ve managed to make it work,” a Chinese aircraft designer, who works on military research projects, but isn’t involved in I-plane project, told the South China Morning Post.
『這是一個瘋狂的設計，但不知何故，他們已成功地做到』。 一名從事軍事研究專案的，但未參與「「智慧型飛機」飛機的中國飛機設計師，告訴南華早報記者說。
He said that the new design reflects the country’s desire to develop new strategic weapons before the United States does.
他說新的設計反映了，中國在美國之前發展新戰略武器的願望。
“This will require original rather than knock-off designs,” he told the newspaper. “It could lead to a huge step forward in hypersonic technology.”
『這將需要原創，而非關閉設計』，他告訴報紙說。『這可能導致了高超音速技術向前邁進一大步』。
Meanwhile, in the United States, a couple companies are working on similar aircrafts which are designed to drastically reduce flight time. In early January, Boeing unveiled its hypersonic vehicle design that could “pave the way for a future high-speed strike,” according to Aviation Week. And Lockheed Martin has envisioned an equally fast aircraft called the “SR-72.”
同時，在美國，若干家公司正在研製類似的飛機， 目的是大幅減少飛行時間。據航空週刊稱，本年1月初，波音推出超高音速汽車的設計，就是『為未來的高速成功出擊奠定基楚』。而洛克希德公司設想了，一架同樣快速的飛機叫做 "SR-72"。
“Speed is the next aviation advancement to counter emerging threats in the next several decades. The technology would be a game-changer in theater, similar to how stealth is changing the battle space today,” Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin program manager, Hypersonic, said in a statement.
『在未來幾十年中，速度在航空事業上，是應對新威脅的下一個進展。這項技術將是在劇場中一個遊戲轉換器，它類似於隱身攻擊，如何改變今天的戰場』，在一份聲明中，"洛克希德專案經理-布列德，李南對超高音速Hypersonic一字如是說。
Justin Lai編譯
02/26/2018
