美国国家公共电台 NPR--NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has technical problems

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has technical problems

Transcript¹

Scientists and engineers are troubleshooting from 14 billion miles away, with a delay of 20-plus hours each way — trying to fix an antenna² control system built 45 years ago.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory can fling space probes far away from Earth and land robots on Mars.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

But they can't figure out why Voyager 1 is sending home odd signals. Though to be fair, it was launched in 1977 and is now more than 14 1/2 billion miles away. Here's Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd.

SUZANNE DODD: We travel at about 35,000 miles per hour, which is slow if you want to go across the galaxy³. It's not warp⁴ speed (laughter).

FADEL: She says her team is facing some big challenges to debug the corrupt⁵ data.

DODD: The technology of the computers on board is 1975 technology - very, very old, very low memory. And because of the distances, it takes all of our big antennas⁶ on the ground to get a signal back.

INSKEEP: So they're working at speeds that are slower than an old dial-up modem⁷.

(SOUNDBITE OF DIAL-UP MODEM CONNECTING)

INSKEEP: (Laughter) It takes 20 hours for a command to reach Voyager and another 20 hours to get a response.

FADEL: And Dodd says a new generation of engineers is turning to ancient manuals kept in binders⁸ with hand-drawn schematics and missing parts numbers.

DODD: So it's a bit of an archaeological hunt to get the information we need on the design of the spacecraft.

FADEL: Dodd says charged particles could be to blame for the confusing readings, but a more likely diagnosis⁹ is old age.

DODD: (Laughter) It got old. It's 45 years old. So if you imagine your little clock radio still working after 45 years, it's pretty rare.

INSKEEP: Now, to be clear, this spacecraft, whatever the bugs¹⁰, is still working, still collecting information about magnetic fields and solar radiation.

FADEL: And it's carrying an actual record made of gold. If anything ever finds it, it'll hear several natural sounds from Earth, like wind and thunder. And it'll hear some music, too, including Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 13" and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

INSKEEP: Assuming they figure out how to use the record player. Anyway, it's billions of miles away, beyond where any human or human-made device has gone before.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOHNNY B. GOODE")

CHUCK BERRY: (Singing) Deep down in Louisiana, close to New Orleans, way back up in the woods among the...

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

3 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

4 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 antennas   

[生] 触角，触须（antenna的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Marconi tied several antennas to kites. 马可尼在风筝上系了几根天线。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Radio astronomy today is armed with the largest antennas in the world. 射电天文学拥有世界上最大的天线。

7 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。

8 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

10 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》