No sound can be heard in space because theres no medium for it to travel through. But inside Chinas space station， which serves taikonauts as they live and work in space， the buzzing from equipment can be a nuisance.

Luckily， the noise is not a problem. To provide a quiet and comfortable living and working environment for the diligent taikonauts， the research team on the ground has put in quite an effort to turn it down.

When the manned spacecraft is launched into space， the noise outside the craft can hit 140—160 decibels—110 decibels is the pain threshold for the average human.

To check if the noise outside the spaceship will affect the taikonauts and operation inside， the research team developed a large testing environment to simulate all the deafening noise that may be generated during the flight and placed the newly built spaceship in the testing environment for a thorough test.

在太空中聽不到聲音，因為沒有傳播介質(zhì)。但是在中國的空間站里——航天員在太空中生活和工作的地方，設(shè)備發(fā)出的嗡嗡作響聲是一個麻煩。

幸運的是，噪音不是問題。為了降低噪音，給辛苦的航天員提供一個安靜舒適的生活和工作環(huán)境，地面上的研究團隊付出了很大的努力。

當載人飛船發(fā)射到太空時，飛船外部的噪音可以達到140—160分貝——110分貝是普通人的疼痛閾值。

為了檢測飛船外部的噪音是否會影響航天員和飛船內(nèi)部的運行，研究團隊開發(fā)了一個大型的測試環(huán)境，來模擬飛行過程中可能產(chǎn)生的所有震耳欲聾的噪音，并將新建的飛船置于測試環(huán)境中進行全面的測試。

The Wentian lab module has three sleeping areas and multiple cabinets for experiments. Its also equipped with numerous apparatus， including compressors， pumps， fans， refrigerators for experiments and control facilities to manage the spaceships position. When these machines start working， they generate a large amount of noise， which creates a complex sound environment.

The researchers used science to single out all the equipment that are too loud. For example， the refrigerator is one of the noisy equipment inside the Wentian module because it has as many integrated functions as possible.

Many noise-reduction materials cannot be used for noise-proofing in space because they may affect the air quality in the space station in the long run. The researchers had to design a new pump and noise-reduction materials.

As the equipment are different in aspects， including the size， location and the cause of the noise， the research team had to use diverse methods to reduce the noise， such as covering them with rubber or placing them inside soundproof boxes.

Thanks to their efforts， the noise in the work area in the Wentian module is maintained at under 60 decibels. It is 50 decibels in the sleeping area， which offers taikonauts a quiet environment to rest as they continue their work in space.

問天實驗艙有三個睡眠區(qū)和多個實驗柜。它還配備了許多設(shè)備，包括壓縮機、泵、風扇，以及用于實驗的冰箱和操控飛船位置的控制設(shè)施。當這些機器開始工作時，它們會產(chǎn)生大量的噪音，這就會創(chuàng)造一個復雜的聲音環(huán)境。

研究員利用科學方法找出了所有聲音太大的設(shè)備。例如，冰箱是問天艙內(nèi)噪音較大的設(shè)備之一，因為它具有很多的集成功能。

許多降噪材料不能在太空中使用，因為它們可能會長期影響空間站的空氣質(zhì)量。研究員必須設(shè)計一種新的泵和降噪材料。

由于設(shè)備的大小、位置、產(chǎn)生噪音的原因等各不相同，研究團隊不得不采用各種方法來降低噪音，比如用橡膠覆蓋設(shè)備或?qū)⒃O(shè)備放置在隔音盒內(nèi)。

在他們的努力下，問天艙工作區(qū)域的噪音保持在60分貝以下。睡眠區(qū)域的噪音為50分貝，這為航天員提供了一個安靜的休息環(huán)境，這樣他們可以繼續(xù)在太空中工作。

Word Bank

simulate /'s?mjule?t/ v. （用計算機或模型等）模擬

Computer software can be used to simulate conditions on the seabed.

multiple /'m?lt?pl/ adj. 數(shù)量多的；多種多樣的

apparatus /'?p?'re?t?s/ n. 設(shè)備；裝置；儀器

integrate /'?nt?ɡre?t/ v. 使合并；使成為一體

These programs will integrate with your existing software.