We all have that one road, building, or tree that helps us remember where we're going.

我們都有那麼一條路，一棟建築，或者一棵樹，幫助我們記住我們要去的地方。

Without those kinds of landmarks, it might be harder to navigate an unfamiliar place.

如果沒有這類地標，要在一個陌生的地方導航可能會比較困難。

But what do you do when there's nothing recognizable around you?

但是，當你周圍沒有任何可識別的東西時，你該怎麼辦？

Well, you look up.

好吧，你抬頭看看。

The stars that we see in the sky today are the same ones that guided the ancient Egyptians in building their pyramids

今天我們在天空中看到的星星 就是引導古埃及人建造金字塔的星星。

and maritime travelers in their travels around the globe.

和海上旅行者在全球範圍內的旅行。

Many of the techniques that guided people in the past are similar to the ones that we use in our modern world.

過去指導人們的許多技術與我們在現代世界中使用的技術相似。

That's because during any time of the year anywhere on Earth, the stars appear over the horizon at predictable heights and at measurable distances.

這是因為在一年中的任何時候，地球上的任何地方，星星都會以可預測的高度和可測量的距離出現在地平線上。

For example, Polaris — what most people know as the “North Star”— is an easy target when you're navigating in the Northern Hemisphere.

例如，當你在北半球導航時，北極星--大多數人所熟知的 "北極星"--是一個容易的目標。

First thing you want to do is find “The Big Dipper.”

首先你要做的是找到 "北斗七星"。

Depending on where you are, and what time of day and year it is, the Big Dipper will be in a different part of the sky,

根據你所處的位置，以及一年中的什麼時間，北斗七星會在天空的不同地方。

but it's always circling the North Star.

但它總是繞著北極星轉。

Plus, it's a pretty recognizable feature.

另外，這是一個很好識別的功能。

Once you've located the Big Dipper, take a look at its “bucket.”

找到北斗星後，再看看它的 "鬥"。

On the front edge of this “bucket” are two stars, Merak and Dubhe.

在這個 "鬥 "的正面邊緣，有兩顆星，梅拉克和杜布赫。

Draw an imaginary line from Merak, through Dubhe out to the bright star of Polaris. That's the North Star!

從梅拉克畫一條假想的線，穿過杜比，到北極星的亮星。那就是北極星！

Now that you've found the North Star, you've also found the “Little Dipper.”

既然找到了北極星，也就找到了 "小北斗"。

The reason we use the North Star is because it hardly moves, making it a reliable navigational point.

我們之所以使用北極星，是因為它幾乎不會移動，是一個可靠的導航點。

However, the North Star isn't much help if you're in the Southern hemisphere.

不過，如果你在南半球，北極星也沒什麼用。

You have to catch it at the right time and place.

你必須在正確的時間和地點抓住它。

So, if you're in the south, you're going to need the constellation called the “Southern Cross.”

所以，如果你在南方，你需要的星座叫 "南十字"。

You have to draw a line though the longest angle of the Cross,

你必須畫一條線，穿過十字架的最長角度。

connecting the stars from the top-down, all the way to the horizon.

自上而下連接星空，一直到地平線。

Then you find the midpoint between the two “pointer” stars on the other end of the constellation and draw a line from that midpoint to the horizon as well.

然後，你在星座的另一端找到兩顆 "指針 "星之間的中點，從中點到地平線也畫一條線。

The area where those two lines intersect is the sweet spot we're looking for and that points South.

這兩條線相交的區域就是我們要找的甜蜜點，它指向南方。

Now, obviously, humans travel in more directions than just North or South.

現在，很明顯，人類出行的方向不僅僅是南北。

Even going way back to the 1802 American practical navigator and Nathaniel Bowditch, they would publish tables of some of the brightest stars in the sky.

甚至可以追溯到1802年美國實用航海家和納撒尼爾-鮑迪奇，他們會公佈一些天空中最亮的星星的表格。

Generally there's about 80 to 82 or so bright stars, which are very easily identifiable because they also exist in the major constellations.

一般來說，大約有80到82顆左右的亮星，因為它們也存在於各大星座中，所以非常容易辨認。

In order to get the latitude and longitude of your location, select one of these stars, measure its direction and height above the horizon,

為了得到你所在位置的經緯度，選擇其中一顆星，測量它的方向和地平線以上的高度。

and the time it was when you took the measurement.

以及測量時的時間。

Add a little spherical trigonometry and you've got your exact location.

再加上一點球面三角學，你就能找到你的準確位置。

A tool that helps determine these calculations is called a sextant.

幫助確定這些計算結果的工具叫做六分儀。

This centuries-old device is a two-mirrored, doubly reflective instrument.

這種具有百年曆史的裝置是一種雙鏡雙反射的儀器。

One mirror keeps an eye on the horizon and the other is adjusted by a 60 degree arc to locate the constellation or celestial body.

一面鏡子盯著地平線，另一面鏡子通過60度的弧度調整來定位星座或天體。

Depending on where you land, the arm has numerical notches that help the user calculate their location.

根據你的落腳點，手臂上有數字凹槽，幫助用戶計算自己的位置。

This tool can be helpful practically anywhere.

這個工具在任何地方都能起到幫助作用。

In fact, Apollo astronauts had their vehicles equipped with a sextant that they could use in case they ever lost communication with Earth.

事實上，阿波羅的太空人在他們的飛行器上配備了一個六分儀，萬一他們與地球失去了聯繫，他們就可以使用。

Apollo really used the Sexton throughout their whole mission.

阿波羅號在整個任務中真的使用了塞克斯頓。

They would use it to periodically align their gyroscopes with the stellar inertial frame throughout the mission.

在整個任務中，他們會用它來定期將陀螺儀與恆星慣性框架對齊。

In fact, a lot of times each crew had a designated navigator onboard who would be trained and taking the sites.

其實很多時候，每個船員在船上都會有一個指定的領航員，由他來培訓和帶站點。

And it was a little bit of a competition among the Apollo astronauts on who could actually get the most accurate Sexton sightings

阿波羅的太空人之間也在比賽 誰能得到最準確的塞克斯頓的蹤跡？

compared to the ground radio tracking.

與地面無線電跟蹤相比。

And Jim Lovell of course, was very famous for being a pretty good sighter. Frank Borman as well.

當然，吉姆-洛弗爾也是非常有名的視力好手。Frank Borman也是

As recently as 2020, the crew aboard the International Space Station tested this Earth-based tool for it's star-sighting techniques in space.

就在2020年，國際空間站上的機組人員測試了這種基於地球的工具，用於它在太空中的星空觀測技術。

As part of the Sextant Navigation Investigation, researchers are studying whether this kind of astronavigation technique could be used for future missions,

作為六分儀導航調查的一部分，研究人員正在研究這種天文導航技術是否可以用於未來的任務。

like NASA's Orion spacecraft.

如美國宇航局的獵戶座飛船。

Researchers are also exploring how to expand celestial navigation by using completely different stars: pulsars.

研究人員還在探索如何利用完全不同的恆星：脈衝星來擴展天體導航。

On the ISS, there is an instrument called the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER,

在國際空間站上，有一個叫中子星內部成分探測器的儀器，即NICER。

that looks at spinning ultra-dense left overs of exploding stars.

觀察爆炸恆星的旋轉的超密度剩餘物。

These pulsating stars, known as pulsars could emit radiation blasts every few thousandths of a second.

這些被稱為脈衝星的恆星，每隔幾千分之一秒就能發出輻射爆炸。

NICER collects time-stamps of these blasts and uses a software called Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT—

NICER收集這些爆炸的時間戳，並使用一個名為 "X射線定時和導航技術站資源管理器 "的軟件。

see what they did there?

看到他們在那裡做了什麼？

This software creates a system similar to GPS.

這個軟件可以創建一個類似於GPS的系統。

Because these pulses are so consistent and synchronized, it means we can predict their time of arrival in any place of our solar system.

由於這些脈衝是如此一致和同步，這意味著我們可以預測它們到達太陽系任何地方的時間。

If scientists can get this right, we can navigate in deep space like we never have before.

如果科學家們能把這個問題解決好，我們就能在深空中進行前所未有的航行。

The experiment on the International Space Station—the NICER sextant—is really a quantum leap forward in the celestial navigation art form.

國際空間站的實驗--NICER六分儀，確實是天體導航藝術形式的一次飛躍。

And I really hope that they can get it working because that'll be a really cool technology to see once it comes online.

我真的希望他們能把它弄好，因為一旦上線，那將是一項非常酷的技術。

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Sarafina with Seeker Constellations.

謝謝你的收看，我是Sarafina，來自Seeker星座。我是Sarafina，來自Seeker Constellations。

If there's a topic you want us to cover, let us know in the comments below.

如果有你想讓我們報道的話題，請在下面的評論中告訴我們。