据美国国家航空航天局表示，天文学家宣布在距离地球40光年的单颗恒星周围发现7颗地球大小的类地行星，其中3颗确定位于宜居带内，或许它们都有水存在。（图片来源：视觉中国）
中国日报网5月12日电 据美国福克斯新闻网10日报道，为开采价值数万亿美元的稀有金属，同时方便星际航行，中国公布了在小行星上建造基地的计划，并表示在不久的将来将付诸实施。
中国探月工程总指挥和总设计师叶培建院士透露相关细节称，中国将把飞行器送到某个小行星上，开采如钯、铂等用于智能手机和汽车上的稀有金属。
他说：“不久的将来，我们将研究方法把机器人或者宇航员送到适合开采的小行星上，并把这些资源带回到地球上来。”
今年年初，叶培建院士表示中国有可能在2020年到2025年之间进行一次探测任务，不过具体细节没有进一步透露。
美国高盛公司表示，小行星不但可以作为上述星际航行任务的基地，而且在小行星上采矿的经济价值可能高达数万亿美元。
2013年，美国国家航空航天局就表示有意向对小行星进行开采。2017年1月，飞行棋“灵神星”将被用来研究和开采位于木星和土星之间的同名小行星——“灵神星”。
叶培建院士表示：“中国只要去做，10年内就能开展示范性工程，但要实现大规模开采，大约需要50年左右。”不过，他也认为，距离梦想成真还有不少的技术门槛需要克服。
（编辑：潘一侨 党超峰）
China plans asteroid base for interstellar travel and mining
In an effort to mine precious metals potentially worth trillions of dollars and aid interstellar travel, China has unveiled plans to build a base on an asteroid, likely to happen "in the near future."
Ye Peijian, the Chief Commander and Chief Designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, revealed details that could potentially put an umanned craft on an asteroid and mine the rock for metals like palladium, platinum and others that are used in items such as smartphones and automobiles.
“In the near future, we will study ways to send robots or astronauts to mine suitable asteroids and transport the resources back to Earth,” Peijian said in comments captured by China Daily.
Earlier this year, Pieijian said that China could conduct one exploration mission between 2020 and 2025, though no further details, such as the exact date or the asteroid are known.
Not only would the asteroids serve as bases for missions and help with "interstellar exploration" as Peijian noted, but the economic impact of mining the asteroids could be worth trillions of dollars, according to Goldman Sachs.
NASA has said for several years, going back to 2013, that it too intends to mine asteroids.
In January 2017, NASA said the spacecraft Pysche could be used to study and potentially mine 16 Pysche, an asteroid thought to be the remains of a dead planet.
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