Name: 原子鐘 (How a miniaturized atomic clock could revolutionize space exploration | Jill Seubert)
Uploaded: 2020-04-07T10:53:24.000Z
Duration: 11 min 21 s

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Camille Martínez

謄寫者：約瑟夫-傑尼Joseph Geni 審稿人: Camille MartínezCamille Martínez

as NASA's InSight lander descended towards the surface of Mars.

當美國宇航局'的InSight登陸器向火星表面下降時。

Receiving confirmation of successful touchdown

was one of the most ecstatic moments of my life.

是我一生中最狂喜的時刻之一。

And hearing that news was possible because of two small cube sets

而能聽到這個消息，是因為有兩套小方塊的緣故

Those two cube sets essentially livestreamed InSight's telemetry

這兩套立方體基本上是直播InSight'的遙測。

這樣我們就可以近乎實時地觀看

as that InSight lander went screaming towards the surface of the red planet,

當InSight登陸器尖叫著衝向紅色星球表面時

at a top speed of about 12,000 miles per hour.

以最高時速約12000英里的速度。

現在，那個事件被直播到我們這裡來了。

now, these are these two almost unbelievably intrepid explorers.

現在，這就是這兩位幾乎不可思議的無畏探險家。

the same year that all of us here were being introduced to Han Solo

同年，我們在座的所有人都被介紹給了漢-索羅

And they are still sending back data from interstellar space

而且他們還在從星際空間傳回數據。

We are sending more spacecraft further into deep space

我們正在將更多的航天器送入深空。

But every one of those spacecraft out there

depends on its navigation being performed

to tell it where it is and, far more importantly,

來告訴它在哪裡，更重要的是。

And we have to do that navigation here on Earth for one simple reason:

我們必須在地球上做這種導航，原因很簡單。

spacecraft are really bad at telling the time.

we can revolutionize the way we explore deep space.

我們可以徹底改變我們探索深空的方式。

and I know you're probably thinking, "What is that job?"

我知道你可能在想，"那是什麼工作？"

Well, it is an extremely unique and also very fun job.

嗯，這是一份極其獨特，也非常有趣的工作。

from the moment they separate from their launch vehicle

從它們與運載火箭分離的那一刻起

to when they reach their destination in space.

And these destinations -- say Mars for example, or Jupiter --

而這些目的地 -- 比如說火星，或者木星 -- --

it's like me standing here in Los Angeles and shooting an arrow,

它'就像我站在洛杉磯這裡射箭一樣。

and with that arrow, I hit a target that's the size of a quarter,

和那支箭，我打了一個目標，'四分之一的大小。

and that target the size of a quarter is sitting in Times Square, New York.

而那個四分之一大小的目標正坐在紐約時代廣場上。

Now, I have the opportunity to adjust the course of my spacecraft

現在，我有機會調整我的航天器的航向。

but in order to do that, I need to know where it is.

但為了做到這一點，我需要知道它在哪裡。

And tracking a spacecraft as it travels through deep space

並在航天器穿越深空時進行跟蹤。

is fundamentally a problem of measuring time.

從根本上講是一個測量時間的問題。

You see, I can't just pull out my ruler and measure how far away my spacecraft is.

你看，我不能隨便拿出我的尺子，測量我的飛船有多遠。

how long it takes a signal to get there and back again.

需要多長時間才能得到一個信號，然後再回來。

And the concept is exactly the same as an echo.

If I stand in front of a mountain and I shout,

the longer it takes for me to hear my echo back at me,

我聽到我的回聲的時間就越長。

So we measure that signal time very, very accurately,

所以我們非常非常準確地測量了這個信號時間。

because getting it wrong by just a tiny fraction of a second

因為只差一丁點的時間，就會出錯。

might mean the difference between your spacecraft safely and gently landing

可能意味著你的航天器安全和平穩著陸之間的區別。

or creating yet another crater on that surface.

或在該地表上製造另一個隕石坑。

and it can be the difference between a mission's life or death.

它可以是一個任務的生死之間的差異'。

So we measure that signal time very, very accurately here on Earth,

所以我們在地球上非常非常精確地測量信號時間。

down to better than one-billionth of a second.

There's this great imbalance of scale when it comes to deep space exploration.

在深空探索方面，有這種巨大的不平衡規模。

Historically, we have been able to send smallish things extremely far away,

從歷史上看，我們已經可以把小東西送到極遠的地方。

thanks to very large things here on our home planet.

多虧了我們地球上非常大的東西。

As an example, this is the size of a satellite dish

舉個例子，這是一個衛星天線的大小。

that we use to talk to these spacecraft in deep space.

我們用它來和這些深空的航天器對話。

And the atomic clocks that we use for navigation are also large.

而我們用於導航的原子鐘也很大。

The clocks and all of their supporting hardware

Now, if we even want to talk about sending that capability into deep space,

現在，如果我們還想討論將這種能力送入深空的問題。

into something that can fit inside the produce drawer.

變成可以放進農產品抽屜裡的東西。

那麼，為什麼會有這個問題呢？

Well, let's revisit one of our intrepid explorers, Voyager 1.

好吧，讓我們重溫一下我們無畏的探險家之一，旅行者1號。

Voyager 1 is just over 13 billion miles away right now.

旅行者1號現在就在130億英里之外。

As you know, it took over 40 years to get there,

如你所知，它花了40多年的時間才到達那裡。

and it takes a signal traveling at the speed of light over 40 hours

而這需要一個以光速傳播的信號超過40個小時

And here's the thing about these spacecraft:

And Voyager 1 doesn't stop and wait for us to send directions from Earth.

而旅行者1號也不會停下腳步，等著我們從地球上發出訓示。

to hear that echo signal here on the Earth,

Voyager 1 has moved on by about 1.5 million miles.

旅行者1號已經前進了大約150萬英里。

It's 1.5 million miles further into largely uncharted territory.

它的150萬英里進一步進入很大程度上是未知的領域。

if we could measure that signal time directly at the spacecraft.

如果我們能在航天器上直接測量信號時間。

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原子鐘 (How a miniaturized atomic clock could revolutionize space exploration | Jill Seubert)

potential

context

extremely

journey