Once the arrow leaves that range, it 8217;s no longer particularly dangerous . . . but it 8217;s not even close to stopping.
如果箭支的速度进一步下降，它就更没危险性了……不过距离它停下来还远呢。
After five minutes, the arrow would have flown about a mile, and it would have slowed to roughly walking speed. At that speed, it would experience very little drag; it would just cruise along, slowing down very gradually.
5分钟后，箭支已经飞出了大约1英里（约1.6千米），速度也下降到了步行速度。以这个速度飞行只会受到非常小的阻力，因而箭支会继续“滑行”，并缓慢地减速。
At this point, it would have gone much farther than any Earth arrow can go. High-end bows can shoot an arrow a distance of a couple hundred meters over flat ground, but the world record for a hand bow-and-arrow shot is just over a kilometer.
到了现在，这支箭飞出的距离已经超过地球上任何一支箭的射程了。高端的弓能在平地上将箭射出几百米，不过手持弓的最远射程世界纪录略高于1千米。
This record was set in 1987 by archer Don Brown. Brown set his record by firing slender metal rods from a terrifying contraption that only vaguely resembled a traditional bow.
这个纪录由射手丹•布朗于1987年创立，他用一个几乎已经没有弓的样子的可怕装置将细长的金属杆射出了世界纪录。
As the minutes stretch into hours and the arrow slows down more and more, the airflow changes.
随着时间越来越长，箭支的飞行速度越来越慢，此时流经箭支表面的气流开始发生变化。
Air has very little viscosity. That is, it 8217;s not gooey. That means things flying through the air experience drag because of the momentum of the air they 8217;re shoving out of the way-not from cohesion between the air molecules. It 8217;s more like pushing your hand through a bathtub full of water than a bathtub full of honey.
空气的黏度很小，也就是说没有黏黏的感觉。这意味着飞过空气的物体受到的空气阻力来自于它们排开空气的动量——而不是来自于物体与空气分子之间的黏力。这像是你用手推过一浴缸的水而非蜂蜜。
After a few hours, the arrow would be moving so slowly that it would be barely visible. At this point, assuming the air is relatively still, the air would start acting like honey instead of water. And the arrow would, very gradually, come to a stop.
几个小时后，箭支的飞行速度已经到了肉眼几乎无法分辨的程度。假设此时空气是相对静止的，那么现在空气对于箭支更像是蜂蜜那样黏糊糊的，而箭支也会慢慢地趋向停止。
The exact range would depend heavily on the precise design of the arrow. Small differences in an arrow 8217;s shape can dramatically change the nature of the airflow over it at low speeds. But at minimum, it would probably fly several kilometers, and could conceivably go as far as 5 or 10.
箭支的外形细节会大幅影响最终的射程。箭支形状的细小差别会极大改变低速流过的空气的特性，但此时箭支至少已经飞出了好几千米，飞出个5千米或者10千米也是可以想象的。
Here 8217;s the problem: Currently, the only sustained zero-g environment with an Earth-like atmosphere is the International Space Station. And the largest ISS module, Kibo, is only 10 meters long.
现在问题来了：目前能够持续维持零重力的类地环境只存在于国际空间站。国际空间站最大的一个单元“希望号实验室”的长度也只有10米。
This means that if you actually performed this experiment, the arrow would fly no more than 10 meters. Then, it would either come to a stop . . . or really ruin someone 8217;s day.
这意味着如果你真的打算做这个实验，箭支飞不出10米。之后这支箭要么就此停下来，要么就酿成大祸。
1 Also, you don 8217;t usually shoot astronauts with a bow and arrow 8211; at least not for an undergraduate degree.
1． 而且你不太会没事儿去拿箭射宇航员，至少一个有学士学位的人不会这么干。