In January, at a US Space Force Base in the Rocky Mountains near Colorado Springs, an operator received an unusual email. It was an alert — but not one triggered by the military’s network of space-based sensors. Nor had it originated from the Space Force’s array of early-warning radar systems. Instead, the email appeared to have been forwarded to US Space Command by a tiny UN outfit in Vienna called the Office for Outer Space Affairs. The subject line read “Potential Asteroid Impact Notification”.
今年1月，在落基山脈(Rocky Mountains)、靠近科羅拉多斯普林斯(Colorado Springs)的美國太空軍(US Space Force)基地，一名操作員收到了一封不同尋常的電子郵件。這是一條警報，但并非由軍方的太空傳感器網(wǎng)絡(luò)觸發(fā)，也不是來自太空軍的預(yù)警雷達系統(tǒng)。相反，這封郵件似乎是由聯(lián)合國維也納的外層空間事務(wù)辦公室這個小機構(gòu)轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)給美國太空司令部(US Space Command)的。郵件主題為“潛在小行星撞擊通知”。