東京奧運會開幕式上 會有一場人造流星雨

If you thought Russia's recent efforts to prevent rain in the sky from dampening holiday spirits represented the ultimate in scientific stage management, you ain't seen nothing yet.

如果你認爲俄羅斯最近爲了阻止雨水毀掉節日氛圍的努力是高科技舞臺管理的極限（爲避免五一期間下雨，俄羅斯花百萬美元“播雲”），那麼跟日本人相比，簡直小巫見大巫了。

A Japanese research company called ALE Co. (aka Star-ALE) is bidding to put on a sensational pyrotechnics display for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. But this is no regular fireworks show: ALE Co.'s 'Sky Canvas' is an artificially created meteor shower – uh-huh – which would see hundreds of tiny, coloured fireballs rain down over the host city.

一家叫做ALE CO的日本公司正在籌劃在2020東京夏季奧運會開幕式上進行一場舉世無雙的煙火表演：他們的“天空畫布”項目將上演一場人造流星雨，屆時將有數百顆彩色火球從天而降。

According to a report at industrial design site Core 77, if ALE Co. has its way, this amazing concept would result in the human-made shooting stars being visible from well outside of Tokyo too, with the next-level pyrotechnics expected to be viewable from up to 100 kilometres away from the city.

根據日本工業設計網站Core 77的報道，如果ALE Co得以實施這一計劃，這場人造流星雨在東京以外的地區都可以看到，觀察半徑達到100公里。

But how does it all work? ALE CO. says it can "artificially recreate" the process of natural shooting stars by sending up a satellite into orbit carrying a payload of between 500 to 1,000 specialised pellets called "source particles".

但是它的原理是什麼呢？ALE Co.說他們可以“人工再現”天然流星雨的過程。通過發射一顆衛星進入軌道，搭載500到1000顆叫做“源粒子”的小球。

Once the particles – composed of chemicals designed to emit flames in various colours – are discharged from the satellite, they'd travel around Earth until they enter the atmosphere and begin to burn up. With numerous particles being discharged at the same time, the company says it can create a safe, on-demand meteor shower for the wonderment of the crowds below.

這些粒子中包含的化合物可以製造出五顏六色的火焰。粒子從衛星發射出來以後，它們會環繞地球飛行，直到進入大氣層，開始燃燒。據該公司稱，同時發射大量的粒子，就可以爲地上的觀衆製造一場安全的按需定製的流星雨。

But wonderment comes at a cost, and in this case, that cost isn't cheap. Core77 reports that each combustible pellet comes in at about US$8,100 to produce, and that's not including the costs involved in actually launching the Sky Canvas satellite. Ouch.

效果這麼炫酷，燒錢肯定是難免的。Core77報道說每一個可燃燒的粒子的製造成本是8100美元，而且這還沒算髮射“天空畫布”衛星的成本。

The company has tested its source particles in the lab, using a vacuum chamber and hot gases to simulate the conditions the pellets would encounter upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere. In its testing, the particles burn with an apparent magnitude of –1, which should ensure they're clearly visible in the night sky, even in the polluted skyline of a metropolis like Tokyo.

這家公司已經在實驗室裏測試了源粒子，使用了一個真空房間和高溫氣體來模擬小球進入地球大氣層的情況。在測試中，粒子燃燒時可以達到-1的視星等，足以在夜晚的天空中清晰看到，即使在東京這樣污染嚴重的城市裏。

Their speed should also make them easy to appreciate. "Our shooting star travels slower and longer across the sky than a natural shooting star," ALE Co. explains on its website. "This makes it possible for more people to enjoy the spectacle for a longer period of time."

它們的速度也有利於人們觀賞。ALE Co在他們的網站上解釋說：“我們的流星比天然流星速度要慢，在天空中劃過的時間更長。更多的人可以在更長時間裏欣賞到這一奇觀。”

Of course, a lot of this marketing is just that for now – at least, until the company launches its first shooting-star-laden prototype. It's intending to do that in the latter half of next year, and hopefully by 2018 we'll start to see just how effective human-created meteorites really are.

當然，目前還只是營銷造勢，至少我們在等待這家公司發射第一顆載流星衛星。他們已經計劃在明年下半年發射，所以我們有望在2018年之前看到真正的人造流星雨。

If things go well, who knows? We're calling it: Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony is not one to miss.

如果一切順利推進的話，誰知道呢？讓我們拭目以待：2020年東京奧運會的開幕式不容錯過。