2024年中考英语外刊精析2-New brooms needed

世界上很多森林、土地、水域、大气都因为属于公共财产，无人监管，大家都抱着捞一把的心理使用，最终导致过度使用，引发公地悲剧。如今，太空也有出现公地悲剧的趋势。本文讨论了避免太空因过度拥挤而出现碰撞的方法，认为最佳办法是制定一个新的、具体的太空协议，及时清理太空。 Decluttering low-Earth orbit 1 清理近地轨道 New brooms needed 2 急需新式扫把 It’s time to 3 tidy up space 该清理太空了 1. Decluttering low-Earth orbit 清理近地轨道 导语说明：本文介绍的是如何清理近地轨道的太空垃圾，以降低卫星受损的风险。本导语是对文章所涉及领域的简要概括。 declutter：vt.清除；清理。 造词法：de-（除去）+ clutter（拥塞） low-Earth orbit：近地轨道。是指航天器距离地面高度较低的轨道。近地轨道没有公认的严格定义。一般轨道高度在2000千米以下的近圆形轨道都可以称之为近地轨道。需注意的是，the earth特指地球，首字母不用大写，如果用单独的Earth，不加定冠词，但首字母大写，也是特指地球。 2. New brooms needed 急需新式扫把 标题说明：本文介绍的是清理太空垃圾的几种方法。标题把清理太空垃圾比喻成做室内卫生，把清理方法比喻成扫把，标题采用直译法，其意思是太空垃圾的清理需要使用新的方法，否则无法实现。 需要注意的，本文标题中needed前面省略了is。因为英语新闻标题省略非关键信息和非关键词语，以节约空间。 例：US Urged to Abide by one-China Principle 中国敦促美国遵守一中原则（urged前省略is） 3. it's time to do sth：是做某事的时候了，该做某事了。 · 第1段 EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS, an old saw has it, is nobody’s business. 4 And that is a good description of the business of 5 keeping outer space clean and tidy. Yet the part of space nearest Earth 6, known technically as low-Earth orbit, is getting cluttered 7. Some of the objects 8 up there are working satellites. Some are satellites that have stopped working 9. Some are stages of the rockets 10 which put those satellites into orbit. And a lot are debris 11 left over 12 from explosions and collisions between larger objects. 俗话说得好，人人有责，人人无责。保持外太空干净整洁亦是如此。离地球最近的那部分太空在技术上被称为近地轨道，如今正变得越来越拥挤。那里的有些天体是还在工作的卫星；有些是不再工作的废弃卫星；有些是将那些卫星送入轨道的火箭的残骸；还有很多是因爆炸而产生的和因更大的天体相互碰撞而产生的碎片。 · 解析 4. EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS, an old saw has it, is nobody’s business. 俗话说得好，人人有责，人人无责。 点拨：本句主干为前后两部分，中间an old saw has it为插入语。 business：n.事务；事情。 an old saw has it：俗话/老话说。 saw：n. a common saying; proverb 谚语；格言。 例：His grandfather recited the old saw about an apple a day keeping the doctor away. 类似表达：rumor / word / report has it that ... 有谣言说/据说/有报道说…… 例1：Rumor has it that you're very good attorney, formerly of the JAG core. 据说你是个出色的律师，以前在军法署工作。 例2：Report has it that about 30 people were killed in the accident. 据报道，这次事故中大约有30人丧命。 5. that is a good description of the business of ...：这是对……的事情的最好写照 = ……亦是如 6. the part of space nearest Earth：离地球最近的那部分太空 （nearest Earth为the part of space的后置定语） 7. cluttered：adj.拥挤的；混乱的。 clutter：vt.拥塞；使混乱。 8. object = celestial object：天体。 9. satellites that have stopped working：不再工作的卫星 = 废弃卫星 10. stages of the rockets：火箭的级。（这里指火箭在发射卫星时脱离出来的残骸） 11. debris [ˈdebriː; ˈdeɪbriː]：n. 碎片，残骸。 12. leave over：剩下；留下。（这里根据语境译成“产生”） 例：leftover children 留守儿童 · 第2段 The risk of such collisions is increasing, for two reasons. First, the number of satellites being launched is rising. Second, collisions themselves beget 13 collisions. The fragments they create add to the number of orbiting 14 objects. At the moment, more than 20,000 such objects are being tracked, but there may be as many as 1m bigger than 1cm across 15. 这种碰撞的风险正变得越来越大，其原因有二。其一，地球发射的卫星数量在不断增加。其二，碰撞本身会引发更多的碰撞。碰撞产生的碎片会增加绕地天体的数量。目前，能追踪到的这种天体有2万多个，但尺寸大于1厘米的可能多达百万个。 · 解析 13. beget：vt. 产生；招致；引起。 近义词：incur、bring about、result in 例：Credit busts often beget recessions. 信贷危机经常导致经济衰退。 14. orbiting：adj.绕轨道运行的。 orbit：vt.环绕……的轨道运行。 例：In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite to orbit the earth. 1957年，苏联发射了第一颗环绕地球运行的人造卫星。 15. At the moment, more than 20,000 such objects are being tracked, but there may be as many as 1m bigger than 1cm across. 译一：目前，有2万多个这种天体中正受到跟踪，但尺寸大于1cm的可能多达百万个。 译二：目前，这种天体中能追踪到的有2万多个，但尺寸大于1cm的可能多达百万个。 点拨：本句理解难度不大，但要注意勿将are being tracked字面化理解成“正受到跟踪/追踪”，而是要根据语境将其理解成“能够追踪到”，如译二所示。 across：adv.宽为；尺寸为。 例：This hand-decorated plate measures 14 inches across. 这个手绘盘子有14英寸宽。 · 第3段 In the long term, this accumulation of junk may lead to a chain reaction, known as Kessler syndrome, that would make some low-Earth orbits unusable. 16 Even in the short term it puts lots of expensive hardware at risk 17. So plans are being laid to send up special craft 18 to “deorbit 19” redundant satellites 20 and rocket stages. Given the current situation, this is a good, if expensive, idea. 21 But a better one for the future would be to build deorbiting into 22 the life-cycles of satellites and rocket stages from the beginning. 长期看来，太空垃圾的累积会引发一种称为凯斯勒综合征的连锁反应，使得某些近地轨道无法使用。即使从短期看来，这也会让大量昂贵的硬件处于危险之中。所以，人们正在制定计划，向太空发射特殊航天器，使废弃卫星和火箭残骸“离轨”。考虑到当前情况，这是个好主意，尽管代价有点高。但在未来，更好的方法是从一开始就将离轨纳入卫星和火箭残骸的生命周期。 · 解析 16. In the long term, this accumulation of junk may lead to a chain reaction, known as Kessler syndrome, that would make some low-Earth orbits unusable. 译一：长期看来，太空垃圾的积累会引发一种使得某些近地轨道无法使用的连锁反应，这在技术上被称为凯斯勒综合征。 译二：长期看来，太空垃圾的积累会引发一种称为凯斯勒综合征的连锁反应，使得某些近地轨道无法使用。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。其中known as Kessler syndrome是chain reaction的后置定语，that从句是chain reaction的定语从句。 本句中chain reaction的后置定语和定语从句难以都译成前置定语，必须有一个译成短句放在后头。译一只将that从句译成前置定语，译二则只将known as Kessler syndrome译成前置定语，通过比较可知，译二更简洁，也更符合中文行文习惯。 junk：n.垃圾；废物；舢板。 Kessler syndrome：凯斯勒综合征。是由美国科学家唐纳德·凯斯勒（Donald Kessler）于1978年提出的理论，该理论指出在太空垃圾过于密集的情况下，一颗卫星偏离轨道或者遭到流星的撞击时会产生连锁反应，进而有大量卫星被毁，变成太空垃圾，对国际空间站等航天器的安全构成威胁。 17. put ... at risk：将……置于危险之中。 18. craft：n.航天器；太空船。 19. deorbit：vt.使脱离/离开轨道。（为将其与事故性脱轨相区别，可将其译成“离轨”） 20. redundant satellites：废弃卫星。 redundant：adj.多余的；累赘的。 21. Given the current situation, this is a good, if expensive, idea. 考虑到当前情况，这是个好主意，尽管代价有点高。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。其中Given the current situation是主句的原因状语，if expensive是主句的插入语，是对good的补充说明。句中if expensive打断了主句的连续性，增加了句子的理解难度。对于这种句子，通常可以先跳过感觉不连续的部分（通常会在前后加逗号或破折号），继续往后看，把后面部分跟前面部分对接，如果能对接得上，通常相互对接的部分就是句子的正常结构，而中断部分通常就是定语、状语、同位语或插入语等，或者定语从句、状语从句、同位语从句等。 given：prep.考虑到；鉴于。 if：conj.尽管；即使；虽然。 例：Sometimes that standard is quite difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. 有时候，那种标准即使不是不可能，也是难以做到的。 22. build sth. into ...：将/使某事物变成/成为……的一部分 · 第4段 There are several ways of doing this. One is a “launch tax”. But that would load costs onto the satellite industry with no benefit unless the proceeds were actually spent on orbital clean ups—and the record of tax-hypothecation of this sort is not good. 23 A launch tax would also fail to attack the nub of the problem, which is that rocket stages and satellites need to be able to deorbit themselves unaided, even though building in such capability increases weight, and therefore launch costs. 24 这事情有好几种做法。其一是征收“发射税”。但这会加大卫星行业的成本，而且没有任何好处，除非将税收收入真正用于轨道清理——但这种税收担保的记录不大好。发射税也不是解决问题的关键，问题的关键是，即使增加离轨能力会加大重量，从而加大发射成本，火箭残骸和卫星也必须能够独立地自行离轨。 · 解析 23. But that would load costs onto the satellite industry with no benefit unless the proceeds were actually spent on orbital clean ups—and the record of tax-hypothecation of this sort is not good. 但这会加大卫星行业的成本，而且没有任何好处，除非将税收收入真正用于轨道清理——但这种税收担保的记录不大好。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。其中with no benefit是load costs onto ...的伴随状语；后面unless引导的是主句的条件状语从句，破折号后内容为unless从句的第二分句，加破折号的目的是为了强调后面部分。 load costs onto ...：给……加大成本（负担）。 load sth. onto ...：将某事物放到……之上 proceed：n.收益；收入。 例：The proceeds of the concert went to charity. 音乐会的收入给了慈善机构。 clean up：n.清理；清除；收割；打扫干净。 近义词：declutter、tidy up and：conj.但是；不过。 （and不仅可表示并列、顺承，还可表示转折、结果、强调，甚至可表示选择、递进等） 例： Several disadvantages tend to limit the use of hydraulic controls and they do offer many distinct advantages. 液压控制虽有许多突出的优点，但也存在一些缺陷，使其应用范围受到了限制。 hypothecation [haɪˌpɒθɪ'keɪʃən]：n.抵押；担保契约。 24. A launch tax would also fail to attack the nub of the problem, which is that rocket stages and satellites need to be able to deorbit themselves unaided, even though building in such capability increases weight, and therefore launch costs. 发射税也不是解决问题的关键，问题的关键是，即使增加这种能力会加大重量，从而加大发射成本，火箭残骸和卫星也必须能够独立地自行脱离轨道。 点拨：本句结构分析如下： 1）主干/主句为加框部分。 2）which is that...（直至句末）是the nub of the problem的定语从句。其中： a）that引导的是which从句的表语从句，而且这一从句一直延伸到句末。 b）even though引导的是that从句的让步状语从句。 需要注意的是，even though从句同时也是对that从句中的be able to deorbit themselves unaided做补充说明，其中such capability跟前面的to be able to遥相呼应。从这一点也可以看出，even though从句是that从句的让步状语从句。 翻译本句时，除了要根据中文行文习惯，把that从句的让步状语从句移到that从句的主句译文之前，还要注意fail to attack the nub of the problem和deorbit themselves unaided的译文不宜过分直译。 fail to：无法；未能；没做到。 例：They failed to find any trace of the runaways. 他们未能发现逃跑者的遗迹。 nub：n.要点；核心；小肿块；瘤。 attach the nub of problem：抓住问题的关键。 unaided：adj.未受协助的；无助的。 build in：使成为组成部分；使成为固定物。 · 第5段 A second idea is a space-going “bottle deposit” scheme 25. Satellite owners would pay an agreed sum into an escrow account 26 that was redeemable 27 when they deorbited their property 28. If they did not do so, enterprising 29 salvagers could try to do it for them, and claim 30 the deposit if successful. This has the virtue of encouraging built-in 31 deorbiting capability, though 32 claiming the bounty 33 would require a separate launch. 第二种办法是制定太空“按瓶金”计划。根据该计划，卫星所有人要向某托管账户支付约定金额，这一金额可在其卫星离轨时退回。如果他们不这样做，则有胆量的救助者可尽力为其代劳，如能成功，则可领走按瓶金。这一做法的优点是可以鼓励增加内置式离轨能力，但要多发射一次才能取回按瓶金。 · 解析 25. space-going “bottle deposit” scheme：太空“按瓶金”计划 deposit：n.按金。 即期货交易中作为履行合约义务的保证，经纪行要求客户存入经纪行帐户的一定数额的投资基金。 "bottle deposit"：“按瓶金”。为美国情景喜剧的两部分，分别是NBC（美国全国广播公司）情景喜剧《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）第七季的第131集和132集，第21集和第22集，于1996年5月2日播出。这里用于指太空发射任务的保证金。 26. escrow account：托管账户；第三方保管账户。 escrow ['eskrəʊ]：n. 暂由第三者保管的契据/保证金（或款项）；暂由第三方保管。 27. redeemable：adj.可赎回的；可偿还的；可挽救的；可换成现款的。 28. their property = their satellites。 29. enterprising：adj.有事业心的；有进取心的；有魄力的；有胆量的。 30. claim：vt.索要；认领/领取（金钱或财物）。 例：claim lottery prize 领取彩票奖金 31. built-in：adj.内置的；嵌入的；固定的。 32. though：conj.但是；尽管。 33. bounty：n. 慷慨；丰富；奖励金；赠款。 例：A bounty of $50,000 was put on Dr. Alvarez's head. 用以悬赏阿尔瓦雷斯博士人头的5万美元赏金。 · 第6段 The best idea, though, is to attack the problem at its roots 34. The littering of space is an example of the “tragedy of the commons”, in which no charge is made for the use of a resource that is owned collectively. 35 So why not charge the beneficiaries for the right to put something into orbit and keep it there? 36 The longer an object stays up, the more the satellite owner pays. 37 The more popular (and hence crowded 38) the orbit chosen, the more expensive it would be to add a satellite to it. 但最好的办法还是从根本上解决问题。在太空乱丢垃圾是“公地悲剧”的一个例子，在这种悲剧中，使用集体所有的资源是无需支付费用的。那么，对于那些向太空轨道发射卫星并将它们留在太空的受益人，为什么不向他们收费呢？卫星留在太空越久，其所有人支付的费用就要越高。选择的轨道越受欢迎（因此越拥挤），向该轨道发射卫星的费用也要相应提高。 · 解析 34. attack the problem at its roots：从根本上解决问题。 35. The littering of space is an example of the “tragedy of the commons”, in which no charge is made for the use of a resource that is owned collectively. 在太空乱丢垃圾是“公地悲剧”的一个例子，在这种悲剧中，使用集体所有的资源是无需支付费用的。 点拨：本句主句为句子前半部分。后面in which引导的是“tragedy of the commons”的非限制性定语从句；该从句主干为no charge is made for the use of a resource (in which)，后面that引导的是resource的定语从句。 “tragedy of the commons”：公地悲剧。（common：n.公地） 公地悲剧是指作为一项资源或财产的公地有许多拥有者，且每个拥有者都有使用权，但无权阻止其他人使用，而大家都倾向于过度使用，从而造成资源枯竭。过度砍伐的森林、过度捕捞的渔业资源及污染严重的河流和空气，乃至过度拥挤的太空都是“公地悲剧”的典型例子。之所以叫悲剧，是因为所有当事人都知道资源将因过度使用而枯竭，但对阻止事态继续恶化都无能为力，而且都抱着“及时捞一把”的心态加剧事态恶化。 36. So why not charge the beneficiaries for the right to put something into orbit and keep it there? 译一：那为什么不因为向太空轨道发射卫星并将它们留在太空的权利而向其受益人收费呢？ 译二：那为什么不对向太空轨道发射卫星并将它们留在太空的权利的受益人收费呢？ 译三：那么，对于那些向太空轨道发射卫星并将它们留在太空的受益人，为什么不向他们收费呢？ 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。主干后面部分是charge的原因状语。本句句子不长，但原因状语不容易表达成好理解的译文。以上译一和译二是按照原文的思路给出的译文，句子显得有点冗长，译三将前两个译文加以拆分，用“对于……”引出charge的对象，再将主干译成一个小句，置于句末，拆分后句子显得更好理解。 the right to do sth.：做某事的权利。 37. The longer an object stays up, the more the satellite owner pays. 卫星留在太空越久，其有人支付的费用就要越高。 点拨：本句和下一句是典型的the more ..., the more ...句式。这种句式中，如果the more后接形容词，则通常在句中充当表语，如果the more后接副词，则通常在句中充当状语。如： 例1：The more learned a man is ,the more modest he usually is. 人越有学问，往往越谦虚。 例2：The more you practice, the more you will know. 你实践得越多，就知道得越多。 stay up = stay up there：呆在/保持在太空上。 38. (and hence crowded) = (and hence the more crowded) · 第7段 That raises the question of who would do the charging. The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967, assigns responsibility and liability for objects in orbit to the country which launches them, and entreats signatories to avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies. 39 As far as low-Earth orbit is concerned 40, this has not really worked. France requires rocket boosters 41 to be dumped 42 in the sea, but that’s about it 43. It would make sense for countries with space-launch capability, and thus an interest in keeping space clean, to hammer out a new and specific agreement. 44 A well-crafted 45 treaty would clean up space, cause it to be used more efficiently, and raise some useful revenue from a resource currently exploited for nothing. 但是，这就引发了一个问题，谁来收费呢？1967年签署的《外太空公约》将在轨卫星的责任归于其发射国，并要求签约国避免对太空和天体造成有害污染。就近地轨道而言，这一条约并未真正起作用。法国要求将火箭助推器扔进海里，但也就仅此而已。对于有太空发射能力，因此能从保持太空清洁中受益的国家而言，敲定一份新的、具体的协议是有意义的。制定一份精心设计的条约可以使太空保持清洁，让人们更有效地利用太空，并从目前无偿开发的资源中增加一些有用的收益。 · 解析 39. The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967, assigns responsibility and liability for objects in orbit to the country which launches them, and entreats signatories to avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies. 1967年签署的《外太空公约》将在轨卫星的责任归于其发射国，并要求签约国避免对太空和天体造成有害污染。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。其中signed in 1967为The Outer Space Treaty的后置定语，for objects in orbit是responsibility and liability的后置定语，which launches them是the country的定语从句，of space and celestial bodies为contamination的后置定语。 sign：vt.签署；签名。 assign ... to ...：将……分配/指派给…… responsibility and liability：责任。 （responsibility和liability近义并列，翻译时取其同义译出） objects in orbit = satellites in orbit：在轨卫星。 in orbit：在轨的 entreat：vt.恳请；请求；要求。 例：They gathered outside the palace to entreat favours of the king. 他们聚集在宫廷外，请求国家施以恩典。 signatory [ˈsɪɡnətri]：n.签名人；签约方。 40. as far as ... be concerned：就……而言 41. booster：n.推进器；助推器。 rocket booster：火箭推进器。 42. dump：vt.倾倒；丢下；猛地放下。 43. that's about it：也就仅此而已。 44. It would make sense for countries with space-launch capability, and thus an interest in keeping space clean, to hammer out a new and specific agreement. 对于有太空发射能力，因此能从保持太空清洁中受益的国家而言，敲定一份新的、具体的协议是有意义的。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分，其中it为句子的形式主语，to hammer out a new and specific agreement为句子的真正主语。句中with space-launch capability, and thus (with) an interest in keeping space clean是countries的后置定语。需要注意的是，thus后面省略了共同成分with。 make sense：有意义；讲得通；言之有理。 hammer out：敲定；设计出；苦心想出。 近义词：work out、nail 例：hammer out a solution 想出解决方案 45. well-crafted：adj.精心设计的；精巧的。 · 第8段 To deal with non-participants acting as free-riders, participants might agree to make pariahs of firms that tried to take advantage in this way, while perhaps offering a share of orbital-use fees to countries without launch capacity of their own. 46 Other natural commons, notably 47 the oceans and the atmosphere, have suffered 48, and still suffer, from a lack of sensible arrangements 49 for their joint exploitation. It is not too late to stop outer space being added to that list 50. 对于对付搭便车的非参与国，参与国可能会同意将试图通过这种方式获取好处的公司抛弃掉，同时可能会向自己没有发射能力的国家支付一部分轨道使用费。其他自然公地，尤其是海洋和大气层，因缺少关于共同开发的合理约定，已经而且仍然在受到困扰。要防止太空步入后尘，现还为时不晚。 · 解析 46. To deal with non-participants acting as free-riders, participants might agree to make pariahs of firms that tried to take advantage in this way, while perhaps offering a share of orbital-use fees to countries without launch capacity of their own. 对于对付搭便车的非参与国，参与国可能会同意将试图通过这种方式获取好处的公司抛弃掉，同时可能会向自己没有发射能力的国家支付一部分轨道使用费。 点拨：本句主干为加框部分。主干前面部分为方向状语；主干后面that引导的是firms的定语从句；while引导的是主句的伴随状语，其中without launch capacity of their own是countries的后置定语。 deal with：安排；处理。 free-rider：n.搭便车者。 pariah [pəˈraɪə]：n.贱民；弃儿。 make pariahs of：抛弃。 例：He's not a pariah, but a very gifted boy. 他不是贱孩子，而是很有天赋的男孩。 47. notably：adv.尤其；显著地。 例：Some rich economies, notably Germany, have done well of late. 一些富裕经济体近来表现良好，尤其是德国。 48. suffer：vi.忍受痛苦；受到损害/困扰。 49. arrangement：n.约定；非正式协议。 例：Our arrangement of yesterday no longer stands. 我们昨天的约定不再有效。 50. be added to this list：被加入这一清单。 （这里指步其后尘） 1. 好词复习 请从原文中找出并熟悉以下词汇，并特别注意加粗字体的词，其中标红的是熟词僻义（即解释里标红的部分），请加以巩固学习： declutter、low-Earth orbit、business、saw、clutter、debris、leave over、beget、orbit、across、junk、put ... at risk、deorbit、given、if、build sth. into ...、load sth. onto ...、proceed、clean up、hypothecation、fail to、nub、unaided、build in、deposit、escrow、redeemable、enterprising、claim、built-in、though、bounty、common、the right to do sth.、sign、assign ... to ...、entreat、signatory、as far as ... be concerned、booster、dump、hammer out、well-crafted、deal with、free-rider、pariah 1. 变换用词 碎片/垃圾：debris、junk 保证金：deposit、bounty 卫星：satellite、something、object 清理/清除/清洁：declutter、tidy up、clean up、keep ... clean 要求：entreat、require 条约/协议：treaty、agreement 能力：capability、capacity 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$ Decluttering low-Earth orbit New brooms needed It’s time to tidy up space EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS, an old saw has it, is nobody’s business. And that is a good description of the business of keeping outer space clean and tidy. Yet the part of space nearest Earth, known technically as low-Earth orbit, is getting cluttered. Some of the objects up there are working satellites. Some are satellites that have stopped working. Some are stages of the rockets which put those satellites into orbit. And a lot are debris left over from explosions and collisions between larger objects. The risk of such collisions is increasing, for two reasons. First, the number of satellites being launched is rising. Second, collisions themselves beget collisions. The fragments they create add to the number of orbiting objects. At the moment, more than 20,000 such objects are being tracked, but there may be as many as 1m bigger than 1cm across. In the long term, this accumulation of junk may lead to a chain reaction, known as Kessler syndrome, that would make some low-Earth orbits unusable. Even in the short term it puts lots of expensive hardware at risk. So plans are being laid to send up special craft to “deorbit” redundant satellites and rocket stages. Given the current situation, this is a good, if expensive, idea. But a better one for the future would be to build deorbiting into the life-cycles of satellites and rocket stages from the beginning. There are several ways of doing this. One is a “launch tax”. But that would load costs onto the satellite industry with no benefit unless the proceeds were actually spent on orbital clean ups—and the record of tax-hypothecation of this sort is not good. A launch tax would also fail to attack the nub of the problem, which is that rocket stages and satellites need to be able to deorbit themselves unaided, even though building in such capability increases weight, and therefore launch costs. A second idea is a space-going “bottle deposit” scheme. Satellite owners would pay an agreed sum into an escrow account that was redeemable when they deorbited their property. If they did not do so, enterprising salvagers could try to do it for them, and claim the deposit if successful. This has the virtue of encouraging built-in deorbiting capability, though claiming the bounty would require a separate launch. The best idea, though, is to attack the problem at its roots. The littering of space is an example of the “tragedy of the commons”, in which no charge is made for the use of a resource that is owned collectively. So why not charge the beneficiaries for the right to put something into orbit and keep it there? The longer an object stays up, the more the satellite owner pays. The more popular (and hence crowded) the orbit chosen, the more expensive it would be to add a satellite to it. That raises the question of who would do the charging. The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967, assigns responsibility and liability for objects in orbit to the country which launches them, and entreats signatories to avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies. As far as low-Earth orbit is concerned, this has not really worked. France requires rocket boosters to be dumped in the sea, but that’s about it. It would make sense for countries with space-launch capability, and thus an interest in keeping space clean, to hammer out a new and specific agreement. A well-crafted treaty would clean up space, cause it to be used more efficiently, and raise some useful revenue from a resource currently exploited for nothing. To deal with non-participants acting as free-riders, participants might agree to make pariahs of firms that tried to take advantage in this way, while perhaps offering a share of orbital-use fees to countries without launch capacity of their own. Other natural commons, notably the oceans and the atmosphere, have suffered, and still suffer, from a lack of sensible arrangements for their joint exploitation. It is not too late to stop outer space being added to that list. 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$