traveling to destinations like the moon and beyond, future interstellar travelers may

前往月球及更遠的目的地，未來的星際旅行者可能會

one day receive similar guidance from NASA's new pulsar-based navigation system. Which

有一天，美國宇航局的新脈衝星導航系統也會提供類似的指導。哪些

is what exactly? When a star that's roughly one and half

究竟是什麼？當一顆大約1.5的恆星...

times the mass of the sun explodes in a supernova, its core collapses into a smaller, dense object

倍於太陽品質的超新星爆炸，其核心會坍塌成一個更小的高密度物體。

called a neutron star. Neutron stars spin rapidly, emitting visible light and high energy

稱為中子星。中子星快速旋轉，發射出可見光和高能量的 "中子星"。

radiation like X-rays and gamma rays. These energetic powerhouses are known as pulsars,

輻射，如X射線和伽馬射線。這些精力充沛的動力源被稱為脈衝星。

and so far scientists have found over 2000 in the known universe.

而到目前為止，科學家已經在已知的宇宙中發現了2000多個。

The radiation emitted from a pulsar's magnetic pole doesn't align with its spin axis, creating

脈衝星的磁極發出的輻射與其自旋軸不一致，產生了脈衝星的磁極。

a beam that sweeps across the dark sky like a cosmic lighthouse. When this beam crosses

一道光束掃過黑暗的天空，就像一座宇宙燈塔。當這道光束穿過

our line-of-sight, it appears as a pulse. The ones that rotate the fastest are called

在我們的視線範圍內，它以脈衝的形式出現。旋轉速度最快的叫做

millisecond pulsars, and their beams whip around hundreds of times per second. Imagine

毫秒脈衝星，它們的光束每秒旋轉數百次。想象一下

an object with a mass more than the sun, spinning several times faster than a Formula One engine!

一個品質比太陽還大的物體，旋轉的速度比一級方程式賽車的引擎還要快好幾倍!

Historically, millisecond pulsars have been exceptionally useful thanks to their incredible

從歷史上看，毫秒脈衝星由於其令人難以置信的特性而變得異常有用。

precision. Since their discovery, their timely blink has helped astronomers confirm the Theory

精度。自從它們被發現以來，它們的適時眨眼幫助天文學家證實了 "理論"。

of Relativity, detect the earliest exoplanets, and accurately measure cosmic distances.

的相對論，探測最早的系外行星，並精確測量宇宙距離。

As NASA sets its sights on distant planets, spacefaring explorers will need a way of orienting

當美國宇航局將目光投向遙遠的星球時，太空探險者將需要一種定位方式

themselves in space. Here on Earth, we use the satellite-based GPS. These satellites

自己在太空中。在地球上，我們使用基於衛星的GPS。這些衛星

carry atomic clocks that provide extremely accurate time, which gets used by your phone

攜帶原子鐘，提供極其精確的時間，被你的手機所使用。

or car to help calculate your position. GPS works fine if you're on Earth or close to

或汽車來幫助計算你的位置。如果你在地球上或接近地球，GPS可以正常工作。

it, but once you go beyond its range, the signal weakens till... you're lost. You

但一旦你超出了它的範圍 信號就會減弱直到... 你迷路了你...

can't just pull over and ask for directions to the nearest planet.

不能只是停在路邊，問路 到最近的星球。

Since the 60s, NASA has primarily used the Deep Space Network to track missions beyond

自60年代以來，美國宇航局主要利用深空網絡跟蹤任務，超越。

Earth's orbit. It's made up of three ground stations located in: Australia, U.S.' California,

地球的軌道。它由三個地面站組成，分別位於。澳洲，美國，加利福尼亞。

and Spain. They're approximately 120 degrees apart, and they beam up radio waves to a spacecraft

和西班牙。它們相距約120度，它們將無線電波傳送到一個航天器上。

and log details as the signals return. Navigational data is calculated on Earth and sent back,

並在信號返回時記錄詳情。導航數據在地球上計算後發回。

helping ground control keep missions on the right path.

幫助地面控制部門保持任務的正確方向。

But if that radio link with Earth is lost, a spacecraft can find itself adrift. Some

但如果失去了與地球的無線電聯繫，航天器就會發現自己漂泊不定。有些

manned missions, like the Apollo program, have even carried an antiquated sextant in

載人任務，如阿波羅計劃，甚至攜帶了一個古老的六分儀，在阿波羅計劃中。

case this happened, so they could fix their position against the stars, like old timey

以防萬一，這樣他們就可以固定自己的位置，對著星星，就像老古董一樣。

mariners lost at sea. A better solution would be if a spacecraft

海員在海上失蹤。一個更好的解決辦法是，如果一個航天器

could navigate independently… no ground control required. This is where our friends

可以獨立航行... 不需要地面控制。這就是我們的朋友

the pulsars come in. Millisecond pulsars spin with such amazing regularity that they're

脈衝星的到來。毫秒脈衝星以驚人的規律自轉，以至於它們被稱為

among the most reliable clocks in the universe. With their predictable pulsations, they provide

宇宙中最可靠的時鐘之一。憑藉其可預測的脈動，它們提供了可預測的時間。

high-precision timing just like GPS satellites do. Accuracy is so important because in spaceflight,

就像GPS衛星一樣的高精度計時。準確度如此重要，因為在太空飛行中。

it's the difference between landing on a planet...or crashing on it. And this technique

它是降落在行星上... ...還是墜落在行星上的區別。而這種技術

of X-ray pulsar navigation is actually showing promise on the International Space Station.

的X射線脈衝星導航實際上正在國際空間站上顯示出希望。

Mounted on the station's exterior is a piece of equipment called Neutron star Interior

安裝在臺站外部的是一個叫中子星內部的設備。

Composition Explorer or NICER. It packs an array of 56 X-ray telescopes into an area

組成探測器或NICER。它將56臺X射線望遠鏡的陣列裝進了一個區域內。

the size of a washing machine. Its purpose is to study neutron stars, including the rapidly

洗衣機大小。它的目的是研究中子星，包括快速的。

blinking pulsars. NICER scans the sky detecting and timestamping the arrival of X-ray photons

閃爍的脈衝星。NICER掃描天空，探測和時間標記X射線光子的到來。

within 100 nanoseconds of accuracy, or better. A software embedded into NICER, cleverly named

精度在100納秒以內，甚至更高。嵌入到NICER中的軟件，被巧妙地命名為 "NICER"。

SEXTANT or Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, then analyzes that

SEXTANT或X射線授時和導航技術站資源管理器，然後對其進行分析。

data, comparing it with an almanac of known pulsars, looking for their unique fingerprint.

數據，將其與已知脈衝星的年鑑進行比較，尋找其獨特的指紋。

In November 2017, NASA used four different millisecond pulsar targets to successfully

2017年11月，美國宇航局利用四個不同的毫秒脈衝星目標，成功將

demonstrate that SEXTANT could determine the position of the ISS within 5 to 16 kilometers

證明文部科學省可以在5至16公里內確定國際空間站的位置。

of its actual position. Scientists are hoping to get more than just

的實際位置。科學家們希望得到的不僅僅是

navigational help from NICER. NASA currently uses radio frequencies to talk to and locate

NICER的導航幫助。美國宇航局目前使用無線電頻率來對話和定位。

the various rovers and probes scattered across our solar system as well as manned missions

遍佈太陽系的各種漫遊車和探測器以及載人飛行任務。

closer to home. NASA is now considering testing SEXTANT for

離家更近。美國宇航局現在正在考慮測試SEXTANT，用於

use on the Lunar Gateway, a mini space station meant to aid long-term missions on the lunar

在月球門戶上使用，這是一個小型空間站，旨在幫助在月球上進行長期任務。

surface, and eventually, Mars. Who knows, in the future, if space explorers are lost

地表，並最終進入火星。誰也不知道，在未來，如果太空探險家們迷失了方向。

in a sea of stars, they can use cosmic pulsars as beacons to guide themselves home.

在星海中，它們可以利用宇宙脈衝星作為燈塔，指引自己回家。

By the way, if you scooped-up a teaspoon of a pulsar, it would weigh as much as Mount

順便說一下，如果你舀起一茶匙的脈衝星， 它的重量將與山一樣重

Everest...and you would need a very strong spoon. Pulsars are pretty amazing, so if you want

珠穆朗瑪峰......而且你需要一個非常強壯的勺子。脈衝星是相當驚人的，所以如果你想。

to know more, like how they are leading to new insights in general relativity, check

想知道更多，比如他們是如何導致廣義相對論中的新見解，請查看。

out this video here. Let us know what else you'd like us to cover in the comments below

出這個視頻在這裡。讓我們知道你還想讓我們在下面的評論中涵蓋什麼。

and make sure to subscribe to Seeker. Thanks for watching!

並請務必訂閱《探尋者》。謝謝大家的觀看!