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JillSeubert_2019X-_小型化的原子钟将如何颠覆太空探索_-
Six months ago, 六个月前,
I watched with bated breath as NASA's InSight lander descended towards the surface of Mars . 我屏住呼吸,激动的目睹了 美国宇航局（NASA） 洞察号探测器（InSight） 在火星表面着陆的过程。
bated:adj.除去的;减去的;v.压制(bate的过去分词); InSight:n.洞察力;洞悉; lander:n.着陆器;出铁槽;把钩工人; descended:adj.出身于...的;从一个祖先传下来的; Mars:n.火星
Two hundred meters, 80 meters, 60, 40, 20, 17 meters. 200 米, 80 米, 60,40,20,17 米……
Receiving confirmation of successful touchdown was one of the most ecstatic moments of my life. 接收成功触地确认的一瞬, 是我人生中最为欣喜的时刻。
touchdown:n.着陆,降落,接地;持球触地; ecstatic:adj.狂喜的;入迷的;n.狂喜的人;
And hearing that news was possible because of two small cube sets that went along to Mars with InSight. 正是跟随洞察号 抵达火星的两个立方星系统 让我们得以聆听这则新闻。
Those two cube sets essentially livestreamed InSight's telemetry back to Earth, so that we could watch in near-real time as that InSight lander went screaming towards the surface of the red planet, hitting the atmosphere of Mars at a top speed of about 12,000 miles per hour. 这两个立方星系统 把洞察号的遥感勘测直播 传送回地球, 这才让我们能几乎实时地观看到 洞察号探测器呼啸着 冲向这红色星球的表面, 以 12000 英里的最高时速 冲击火星大气层。
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; telemetry:n.[自]遥测技术;遥感勘测;自动测量记录传导; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
Now, that event was livestreamed to us from over 90 million miles away. 是的,这一盛况竟然是从远在 九千万英里之外 向我们直播。
It was livestreamed from Mars. 这是来自火星的直播。
Meanwhile , the two Voyager spacecraft -- now, these are these two almost unbelievably intrepid explorers . 与此同时, 两架旅行者号（Voyager）航天器—— 这简直是两位勇猛惊人的探险家。
Meanwhile:adv.同时,其间;n.其间,其时; Voyager:n.航海者,航行者; spacecraft:n.[宇]宇宙飞船;航天器; unbelievably:adv.难以置信地;不可信地; intrepid:adj.无畏的;勇敢的;勇猛的; explorers:n.探险者;勘探者;考察者;(explorer的复数)
They were launched the same year that all of us here were being introduced to Han Solo for the first time. 它们发射升空时, 正是我们初次知晓韩·索罗（Han Solo） （1977版《星球大战》主角） 的那一年。
launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) Solo:n.独奏; adj.独奏的; v.单人攀登; v.单独地;
And they are still sending back data from interstellar space over 40 years later. 如今,40 多年过去了, 它们仍然在星际间 向我们传回信息。
interstellar:adj.[航][天]星际的;
We are sending more spacecraft further into deep space than ever before. 现在,我们已向更远的深空 发送了比以往任何时候 都多的航天器。
But every one of those spacecraft out there depends on its navigation being performed right here at Earth to tell it where it is and, far more importantly, where it is going. 但是每一架冲向太空的航天器, 都依赖于它所执行的、 来自地球的导航, 来告知它正身处何处, 以及更重要的, 它将去向何方。
navigation:n.导航;航行;领航; performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式)
And we have to do that navigation here on Earth for one simple reason: spacecraft are really bad at telling the time. 我们不得不在地球上进行导航的 一个简单的原因是: 航天器不擅长计时。
But if we can change that, we can revolutionize the way we explore deep space. 然而,如果能改变这一点, 我们就能颠覆探索深空的方式。
revolutionize:vt.发动革命;彻底改革;宣传革命;vi.革命化;从事革命;
Now, I am a deep space navigator , and I know you're probably thinking, "What is that job?" 我是一个深空导航者。 我知道你们现在大概在想 “这是个什么工作？”
navigator:n.航海家;领航员;驾驶员;
Well, it is an extremely unique and also very fun job. 事实上,这是一个十分独特 也非常有趣的工作。
extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物;
I steer spacecraft, from the moment they separate from their launch vehicle to when they reach their destination in space. 从航天器与运载工具 分离那一刻起, 我就会一直操纵着航天器, 直到它抵达太空中的目的地。
steer:v.引导;控制;操纵;驾驶(船、汽车等);n.建议;劝告;忠告;阉公牛; vehicle:n.[车辆]车辆;工具;交通工具;运载工具;传播媒介;媒介物;
And these destinations -- say Mars for example, or Jupiter -- they are really far away. 这些目的地,例如火星,又或者木星, 它们真的很遥远。
Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神);
To put my job in context for you: it's like me standing here in Los Angeles and shooting an arrow, and with that arrow, I hit a target that's the size of a quarter, and that target the size of a quarter is sitting in Times Square, New York. 这样来介绍我的工作吧: 就好比我现在站在洛杉矶开始射箭, 我要用这支箭射中 扎在纽约时代广场上 一个 25 美分硬币大小的靶子。
context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉;
Now, I have the opportunity to adjust the course of my spacecraft a few times along that trajectory , but in order to do that, I need to know where it is. 接下来,沿着它的轨迹, 我有几次机会来调整航天器航道; 可是,为了做调整, 我需要知道它的位置。
adjust:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯; trajectory:n.[物]轨道,轨线;[航][军]弹道;
And tracking a spacecraft as it travels through deep space is fundamentally a problem of measuring time. 其实,跟踪航天器在深空中的飞行, 这本质上是一个时间测量的问题。
tracking:n.追踪,跟踪;v.跟踪;(track的现在分词) fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地
You see, I can't just pull out my ruler and measure how far away my spacecraft is. 要知道,我不可能掏出一把尺子, 来丈量航天器离我有多远。
But I can measure how long it takes a signal to get there and back again. 但是,我可以测量的是, 一个信号往返所花费的时间。
And the concept is exactly the same as an echo . 这个概念与回声完全相同:
echo:vt.反射;重复;vi.随声附和;发出回声;n.回音;效仿;
If I stand in front of a mountain and I shout, the longer it takes for me to hear my echo back at me, the further away that mountain is. 如果我面对一座山大喊, 我听到回声所需的时间越长, 那座山就越远。
So we measure that signal time very, very accurately , because getting it wrong by just a tiny fraction of a second might mean the difference between your spacecraft safely and gently landing on the surface of another planet or creating yet another crater on that surface. 那么,我们必须非常非常准确地 测量信号时间, 因为仅是弄错微小的、 几分之一秒钟的时间, 就可能意味着 航天器是可以安全平稳地 着陆在另一个星球的表面, 还是会在那上面撞出个陨石坑。
accurately:adv.精确地,准确地; fraction:n.分数;小部分;小数;少量; gently:adv.轻轻地;温柔地;温和地; crater:n.火山口;弹坑;弧坑;[天文学]巨爵座;v.(使)成坑状;
Just a tiny fraction of a second, and it can be the difference between a mission 's life or death. 仅仅是微小的、几分之一秒钟, 就事关任务的生死成败。
mission:n.使命,任务;代表团;布道;v.派遣;向…传教;
So we measure that signal time very, very accurately here on Earth, down to better than one-billionth of a second. 因此,我们在地球上必须 非常非常准确地测量信号时间, 把误差降低到小于十亿分之一秒。
But it has to be measured here on Earth. 当然,这些测量不得不在地球上进行。
measured:adj.缓慢谨慎的; v.测量; (measure的过去分词和过去式)
There's this great imbalance of scale when it comes to deep space exploration . 在深空探索时, 时间尺度的比例会严重失衡。
imbalance:n.不平衡;不安定; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
Historically , we have been able to send smallish things extremely far away, thanks to very large things here on our home planet. 从历史上看,我们之所以能将 很小的物体发送到极远的地方, 全依赖着我们的 地球家园上的巨大物体。
Historically:adv.历史上地;从历史观点上说; smallish:adj.短小的;有点小的;
As an example, this is the size of a satellite dish that we use to talk to these spacecraft in deep space. 例如,这是一个 圆盘卫星信号天线的大小, 我们用它来和深空中的航天器对话;
satellite dish:n.卫星电视碟形天线;
And the atomic clocks that we use for navigation are also large. 而我们用于导航的原子钟 也是个庞然大物:
atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的;
The clocks and all of their supporting hardware can be up to the size of a refrigerator. 原子钟和它所有的支持硬件 加起来可以有冰箱那么大。
hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具;
Now, if we even want to talk about sending that capability into deep space, that refrigerator needs to shrink down into something that can fit inside the produce drawer . 如果我们还想谈谈 将它发送到深空的可能, 那么这个冰箱需要缩小到 可以放进它自己的抽屉这般大小。
capability:n.才能,能力;性能,容量; shrink:v.收缩;减少;退缩;畏缩;n.精神病学家;心理学家; drawer:n.抽屉;内裤;出票人;起草者;酒馆侍者;
So why does this matter? 那么,这一点为什么要紧呢？
Well, let's revisit one of our intrepid explorers, Voyager 1. 让我们重新审视一位勇敢的探险家, 旅行者 1 号。
revisit:vt.重游;再访;重临;n.再访问;
Voyager 1 is just over 13 billion miles away right now. 目前,旅行者 1 号 距离我们超过 130 亿英里。
As you know, it took over 40 years to get there, and it takes a signal traveling at the speed of light over 40 hours to get there and back again. 正如你们所知, 它花了 40 年才行到那里, 而一个信号,以光速传播 也要超过 40 个小时 才能抵达它的位置又折返。
And here's the thing about these spacecraft: they move really fast. 关于这些航天器就出现了一个难题: 它们移动得非常快。
And Voyager 1 doesn't stop and wait for us to send directions from Earth. 旅行者 1 号并不会停下来、 等待我们从地球发送方向,
Voyager 1 keeps moving. 它仍然会继续前进。
In that 40 hours that we are waiting to hear that echo signal here on the Earth, 在那 40 个小时中, 我们在地球上等待听到回声信号,
Voyager 1 has moved on by about 1.5 million miles. 旅行者 1 号却已经行驶了 约 150 万英里,
It's 1.5 million miles further into largely uncharted territory . 这是飞向更遥远的 未知领域的 150 万英里。
largely:adv.主要地;大部分;大量地; uncharted:adj.未知的;图上未标明的; territory:n.领土,领域;范围;地域;版图;
So it would be great if we could measure that signal time directly at the spacecraft. 正因如此, 如果我们能在航天器上 直接测量该信号时间,就再好不过。
directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
But the miniaturization of atomic clock technology is ... 可是,将原子钟小型化的技术
miniaturization:n.小型化,微型化; atomic clock:n.原子钟(利用原子或分子运动计时,精确度极高); technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
well, it's difficult. 难度很大:
Not only does the clock technology and all the supporting hardware need to shrink down, but you also need to make it work. 你不仅要将它和支持性的硬件 缩小, 还要维持一切正常运转。
Space is an exceptionally harsh environment, and if one piece breaks on this instrument , it's not like we can just send a technician out to replace the piece and continue on our way. 太空是一个极其恶劣的环境, 如果这台仪器上有一小块破损, 我们不可能派遣技术人员 去更换零件 来确保它继续前进。
exceptionally:adv.异常地;特殊地;例外地; harsh:adj.严厉的;严酷的;刺耳的;粗糙的;刺目的; instrument:n.仪器;工具;乐器;手段;器械; technician:n.技术员;技师;(艺术、体育等的)技巧精湛者;
The journeys that these spacecraft take can last months, years, even decades. 这些航天器的旅程 可能持续数月、数年, 甚至数十年。
And designing and building a precision instrument that can support that is as much an art as it is a science and an engineering . 因此,设计和制造可靠的精密仪器, 既是科学和工程学,也是艺术。
precision:n.精度,[数]精密度;精确;adj.精密的,精确的; engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词)
But there is good news: we are making some amazing progress, and we're about to take our very first baby steps into a new age of atomic space clocks. 不过令人欣慰的是, 我们正在不断取得惊人的进展, 我们马上就要向原子钟的新时代 迈进重要的一小步。
Soon we will be launching an ion-based atomic clock that is space-suitable. 很快,我们将推出一种 适用于太空的、基于离子的原子钟。
launching:n.发射;开办;起飞;v.开始从事,发起,发动;(launch的现在分词)
And this clock has the potential to completely flip the way we navigate . 这个时钟可能会完全颠覆 我们的导航方式。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的; flip:n.浏览;空翻;轻抛;捻掷;v.迅速翻动;按(开关);按(按钮);开(或关)(机器等); navigate:vt.驾驶,操纵;使通过;航行于;vi.航行,航空;
This clock is so stable , it measures time so well, that if I put it right here and I turned it on, and I walked away, 它非常稳定, 可以很好地测量时间: 如果我把它放在这里, 开启, 离开,
stable:n.马厩;牛棚;adj.稳定的;牢固的;坚定的;vi.被关在马厩;赶入马房;
I would have to come back nine million years later for that clock's measurement to be off by one second. 九百万年后,我才能目睹 它的测量累计出一秒钟的误差。
measurement:n.测量;度量;长度;
So what can we do with a clock like this? 那么,我们可以用这样的时钟做什么？
Well, instead of doing all of the spacecraft navigation here on the Earth, what if we let the spacecraft navigate themselves? 与其在地球上进行所有的航天器导航, 不如 让航天器自己为自己导航？
what if:如果…怎么办?
Onboard autonomous navigation, or a self-driving spacecraft, if you will, is one of the top technologies needed if we are going to survive in deep space. 自载自动导航, 也可以叫自动驾驶航天器, 将是我们在深空 求生存的首要技术之一。
Onboard:adv.在船上;在飞机上;在板上;adj.随车携带的; autonomous:adj.自治的;自主的;自发的; self-driving:自驾; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数);
When we inevitably send humans to Mars or even further, we need to be navigating that ship in real time , not waiting for directions to come from Earth. 在我们不可避免地需要 将人类送往火星甚至更远处时, 我们将会需要能实时导航的飞船, 而非等待来自地球的指引。
inevitably:adv.不可避免地;必然地; navigating:v.航行,操纵(navigate的现在分词形式);adj.航行的,航行中; real time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
And measuring that time wrong by just a tiny fraction of a second can mean the difference between a mission's life or death, which is bad enough for a robotic mission, but just think about the consequences if there was a human crew on board. 那时,即便只是 几分之一秒的时间测量误差, 都关乎任务的生死成败。 这后果对于机器人任务来说 已经够糟了, 对于载有人类宇航员的后果 更是不堪设想。
robotic:adj.机器人的,像机器人的;自动的;n.机器人学; consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
But let's assume that we can get our astronauts safely to the surface of their destination. 在此,让我们先假设宇航员能够 平安到达星球表面、 抵达他们的目的地。
assume:v.承担;假定;采取;呈现;
Once they're there, I imagine they'd like a way to find their way around. 当他们抵达后,我想象 他们会想办法找到自己的出路。
Well, with this clock technology, we can now build GPS-like navigation systems at other planets and moons. 那么,利用这种时钟技术, 我们就能在其他行星和卫星上 构建类似于 GPS 的导航系统。
Imagine having GPS on the Moon or Mars. 想象一下在月球或火星上有 GPS:
Can you see an astronaut standing on the surface of Mars with Olympus Mons rising in the background, and she's looking down at her Google Maps Mars Edition to see where she is and to chart a course to get where she needs to go? 你是否能看到一名宇航员 正站在火星表面, 奥林匹斯山在背景中缓缓升起, 而她正低头查看 火星版谷歌地图上 自己的位置, 并规划路线前往目的地？
Olympus:n.奥林匹斯山(诸神的住所);天堂,天国; Mons:n.隆起; Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
Allow me to dream for a moment, and let's talk about something far, far in the future, when we are sending humans to places much further away than Mars, 允许我再畅想一下, 一个很远很远的将来, 我们会将人类送到 比火星遥远得多的地方,
places where waiting for a signal from the Earth in order to navigate is just not realistic . 这些地方是如此之远,以至于 等待地球的信号再进行导航 显得不太现实。
realistic:adj.现实的;现实主义的;逼真的;实在论的;
Imagine in this scenario that we can have a constellation , a network of communication satellites scattered throughout deep space broadcasting navigation signals, and any spacecraft picking up that signal 想象在这种情况下, 我们可以拥有一个星座, 一套散布在深空的通讯卫星网络 向四周空间传送着导航信号, 并且,任何收集到这信号的航天器
scenario:n.方案;情节;剧本; constellation:n.[天]星座;星群;荟萃;兴奋丛; scattered:adj.零散的; v.撒; (scatter的过去分词和过去式) throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及;
can travel from destination to destination to destination with no direct tie to the Earth at all. 都可以在不同的目的地之间航行, 而这些目的地与地球没有任何联系。
The ability to accurately measure time in deep space can forever change the way we navigate. 在深空精确测量时间的能力 可以永远改变我们的导航方式。
But it also has the potential to give us some pretty cool science. 同时,这种能力也可能 为我们提供一些蛮酷的科学知识。
You see, that same signal that we use for navigation tells us something about where it came from and the journey that it took as it traveled from antenna to antenna. 事实上,我们用于导航的同一信号 揭示着这样一些信息: 这信号来自何处, 以及它在天线之间传播的历程。
antenna:n.[电讯]天线;[动]触角,[昆]触须;
And that journey, that gives us data, data to build better models, better models of planetary atmospheres throughout our solar system . 这段传播历程为我们提供了数据, 这些数据又可以建立更好的模型, 更好的模型甚至可以 包含整个太阳系的行星大气。
planetary:adj.行星的; atmospheres:n.[心理]气氛(atmosphere的复数形式); v.使有…的氛围(atmosphere的单三形式); solar system:[天]太阳系;
We can detect subsurface oceans on far-off icy moons, maybe even detect tiny ripples in space due to relativistic gravity. 我们可以探测到 遥远而冰冷的卫星地表下的海洋。 甚至可能探测到相对论引力 在太空中激起的微小涟漪。
detect:vt.察觉;发现;探测; subsurface:adj.地下的;表面下的;n.地表下岩石; far-off:adj.遥远的; ripples:n.涟漪;波纹(ripple的复数);v.呈波状(ripple的单三形式); relativistic:adj.相对的;相对论的;
Onboard autonomous navigation means we can support more spacecraft, more sensors to explore the universe, and it also frees up navigators -- people like me -- to work on finding the answers to other questions. 自载自主导航意味着 我们可以支持更多的航天器、 更多的传感器去探索宇宙, 还可以解放出更多 像我这样的导航员—— 去追寻其他问题的答案。
sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数); navigators:n.航海家;导航器(navigator的复数);
And we still have a lot of questions to answer. 我们还有太多的问题等待解答。
We know such precious little about this universe around us. 我们对身处的宇宙知之甚少。
precious:adj.宝贵的;珍贵的;矫揉造作的;
In recent years, we have discovered nearly 3,000 planetary systems outside of our own solar system, and those systems are home to almost 4,000 exoplanets . 近年来,我们在太阳系之外已经发现了 近 3000 个行星系统, 它们是接近 4000 颗系外行星的家园。
exoplanets:外星行星;
To put that number in context for you: when I was learning about planets for the first time as a child, there were nine, or eight if you didn't count Pluto . 为大家提供一些背景信息供参考: 当我孩提时代第一次学习到行星时, 只知道 9 颗行星, 如果不算冥王星的话,是 8 颗。
Pluto:n.冥王;冥王星;
But now there are 4,000. 但是现在有 4000 颗。
It is estimated that dark matter makes up about 96 percent of our universe, and we don't even know what it is. 据估计,暗物质 构成了我们宇宙的96％, 而我们却还不清楚它是什么。
estimated:adj.估计的;预计的;估算的; dark matter:n.暗物质(根据一些理论,指太空中不反射光的物质);
All of the science returned from all of our deep space missions combined is just this single drop of knowledge in a vast ocean of questions. 我们从所有已返回的深空飞行任务中 获得的所有科学成果的总和, 也仅仅是在浩渺的 问题海洋里的一小滴知识。
missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数)
And if we want to learn more, to discover more, to understand more, then we need to explore more. 如果我们想知道更多, 发现更多,了解更多, 我们就需要探索更多。
The ability to accurately keep time in deep space will revolutionize the way that we can explore this universe, and it might just be one of the keys to unlocking some of those secrets that she holds so dear. 准确地在深空测量时间的能力 将革命性地改变 我们探索宇宙的方式。 但或许,这也仅仅是 解锁宇宙珍藏秘密的 若干钥匙中的一把。
unlocking:v.(用钥匙)开…的锁;发现;揭示;揭开;(unlock的现在分词)
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）