天外飛寶：荷蘭公司擬送孕婦去太空生孩子

想象一下沒有重力的分娩：孕婦將無法通過散步來減輕分娩的痛苦，也無法利用重力向下推的優勢，硬膜外麻醉似乎更難以想象。但是在不遠的未來，人類就要大膽地邁出這一步了。

荷蘭一家公司計劃在2024年將一名孕婦送入太空去生寶寶，並且產婦和新生兒要衝破大氣的重重阻力回到地球，還要通過降落傘在沙漠着陸。

Netherlands-based startup SpaceLife Origin wants to send a pregnant woman 250 miles above the Earth to give birth to the first extraterestrial baby in history, in the name of science.

荷蘭初創企業SpaceLife Origin計劃以科學的名義送孕婦去地球上空250英里（約合402公里）的太空生下歷史上第一個“天外寶寶”。

extraterestrial[ˌɛkstrətəˈrɛstriəl] adj. 地球外的

Should our planet ever become unable to sustain human life, our species’ only hope would be to leave and settle elsewhere, be it a haven floating through space or another planet. But in order for this exodus to be a success, we first have to learn how to reproduce in space, and the founders of SpaceLife Origin want to get the ball rolling by sending a pregnant woman into space and having her give birth in zero gravity conditions. It sounds like a crazy idea, especially since humanity is a long way from becoming a spacefaring species, but SpaceLife Origin believes that our long-term survival depends on it.

萬一有一天我們的地球無法再讓人類生存，人類的唯一希望就是離開地球移居他處，或許是漂浮在太空中的庇護所，也可能是另一顆星球。爲了讓人類成功遷離，我們首先要學會如何在太空繁衍後代。SpaceLife Origin的創始人希望能先將一名孕婦送入太空，讓她在零重力條件下分娩。這聽上去很瘋狂，尤其是考慮到人類離成爲太空物種還遠得很。不過，SpaceLife Origin公司認爲，人類的長遠生存之計都有賴於這個計劃。

haven['hevn]: n. 港口；避難所，安息所

exodus['ɛksədəs]: n. 大批的離去

get the ball rolling: 開始

spacefaring['speɪs,feərɪŋ]: adj. 外層空間旅行的，宇宙飛行的

Photo: qimono/Pixabay According to Egbert Edelbroek, one of the executives of the Dutch startup, learning how to give birth in space is an insurance policy for the human race. Even if we ever discover or build an inhabitable place away from Earth, we must first uncover the secrets of space birth if we stand any chance of survival. To do that, SpaceLife Origin plans to organize a series of pioneering experiments over the next five years, with the most important one – an actual human birth in space – scheduled for 2024.

這家荷蘭初創企業的高管埃格伯特·埃德爾布羅克說，學習如何在太空生孩子對於人類而言是一種保險策略。即使有一天我們在地球外發現或建造了宜居住所，如果想要存活下去，我們也要先揭開太空生育的祕密。爲此，SpaceLife Origin公司計劃在未來五年組織一系列先遣試驗，其中真人在太空分娩這項最重要的試驗安排在2024年。

Edelbroek claims that he has already met with several spaceflight companies willing to transport the team 250 miles above the Earth, and with wealthy people willing to finance the experiment. He has also had discussions with women willing to become the first to give birth in space. However, even if SpaceLife Origin manages to find a volunteer, a commercial rocket and the money necessary to fund the whole thing, the mission is still bound to be a logistical disaster.

埃德爾布羅克稱，他已經和幾家願意將試驗團隊送至地球上方250英里高空的航天公司以及那些願意資助試驗的富人碰過面。他還和那些願意最先在太空分娩的女性討論過。然而，即使SpaceLife Origin公司能找到志願者、商業火箭和所需的資金，這個任務在後勤支援方面仍然面臨巨大挑戰。

logistical[lo'dʒɪstɪkl]: adj. 後勤方面的

Photo: NASA-Imagery/Pixabay Getting the pregnant woman into space just before she’s ready to deliver the baby sounds difficult enough, but it’s the safety of the baby and the childbirth itself that experts are worried about. Astronauts usually experience three times the force of gravity during a rocket’s ascent to orbit, and no one knows how that will affect the fetus or the mother.

在孕婦分娩前將其送入太空本就已經夠困難的了，何況還有孩子和分娩過程的安全問題讓專家操心。在火箭進入軌道前宇航員通常會承受三倍地心引力的重壓，沒有人知道這些重力會對胎兒或母親產生什麼影響。

fetus['fitəs]: n. 胎兒，胎

Although we’ve never had a human birth in space before, we do have some experiments conducted on rats, fish, lizards and invertebrates. In the 1990s, rats gave birth on a US space shuttle mission, and every pup was born with an underdeveloped vestibular system, the inner-ear structure that allows mammals to balance and orient themselves. They recovered their sense of balance shortly after, but the scientists concluded that infants need gravity.

雖然還沒有人在太空分娩過，不過，我們已經用老鼠、魚、蜥蜴和無脊椎動物做過試驗。上世紀90年代，一隻老鼠曾在美國的一次航天任務中產仔，生出的每隻小老鼠前庭系統都發育不良。前庭系統是讓哺乳動物自我平衡和導向的內耳結構。儘管這些小老鼠不久後就恢復了平衡感，但科學家得出結論說，幼崽的出生需要重力。

invertebrate[ɪn'vɝtɪbret]: n. 無脊椎動物

vestibular system: 前庭系統

The absence of gravity would pose serious problems, like the lack of assistance when the mother pushes the baby out, the difficulty of administering a pain-numbing epidural with the patient flowing through space, or bodily fluids floating through the shuttle as blobs.

沒有重力會產生多個嚴重問題，比如，母親用力娩出嬰兒時會缺少助力，產婦在太空中漂浮時也將難以注射硬膜外麻醉劑，還有體液將會一團團地漂浮在飛船中。

administer[əd'mɪnɪstɚ]: vt. 執行；給予

blob[blɑb]: n. 一滴；一抹；難以名狀的一團

Photo: sbtlneet/Pixabay Assuming that somehow everything goes right and the “trained, world-class medical team” accompanying the pregnant woman on her historical journey delivers the baby safely, there’s still the descent back to Earth to consider. These days, that means surviving a bone-rattling free fall through the atmosphere, followed by a parachute landing in some desert, not exactly the kind of experience a newborn and its mother should go through.

假設一切都莫名地很順利，“訓練有素的世界頂級醫療團隊”在這一歷史性旅途中陪伴孕婦安全地將嬰兒生下，還得考慮如何返回地球。目前，從太空返回地球意味着要在大氣中自由落體，期間渾身骨頭都會震動，還要用降落傘在某片沙漠着陸，這些經歷並不是新生兒和產婦所能承受的。

And once the baby is safely back on Earth, what kind of birth certificate do you issue someone who was born in space?

而且，一旦嬰兒安全回到地球，要怎麼給這個出生在太空的人開出生證明呢？

SpaceLife Origin acknowledges that its plan still has many unknowns, but that’s the main reason for this pioneering mission, to find answers.

SpaceLife Origin公司承認，這個計劃依然有很多未知因素存在，但這也是這個先驅任務的主要目的——尋找答案。