VOA科学技术2023 橘猫成为太空激光发送视频主角

 

Cat Steals the Show in Video Sent by Laser from Space

橘猫成为太空激光发送视频主角

The U.S. space agency says an orange cat named Taters is the star of the first video sent by laser from deep space.

美国航天局表示，第一段由激光从外太空发送的视频的主角是一只名叫“土豆”的橘猫。

NASA's Psyche¹ spacecraft sent the 15-second video to Earth from 30 million kilometers in space. The video shows Taters as he chases a red laser light.

美国宇航局的普赛克飞船从3000万公里外的太空向地球发送了这段15秒的视频。视频显示“土豆”在追逐红色激光灯。

It took less than two minutes for the video to reach Caltech's Palomar Observatory². The video quality is called ultra high-definition. It was sent at the test system's maximum rate of 267 megabits per second.

这段视频传输到加州理工学院的帕洛玛天文台花了不到两分钟时间。这种视频质量被称为超高清。它是以该测试系统每秒267兆的最大速率发送的。

NASA loaded the video into Psyche's laser communication experiment before launching the spacecraft to visit a rare metal asteroid³ in October. The mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, decided⁴ to use an employee's three-year-old cat.

美国宇航局在10月发射普赛克飞船前往一颗稀有金属小行星，在此之前，它将视频加载到了飞船的激光通信实验中。位于加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳的美国宇航局喷气推进实验室的任务团队决定使用一名员工的三岁猫。

The video was sent to Earth on December 11 and was released by NASA this week. The test sent the video faster than most internet connections here on Earth, said project leader Ryan Rogalin.

该视频于12月11日发送到地球，并于本周由美国宇航局发布。项目负责人瑞恩·罗加林说，这次实验发送视频的速度比地球上大多数互联网连接的速度都快。

NASA wants to improve communications from deep space as it prepares efforts to send astronauts to the moon and possibly to the planet Mars. The laser test is meant to send data at rates up to 100 times greater than the radio systems currently used by spacecraft far from Earth.

美国宇航局希望改善深空通信，为将宇航员送上月球和火星做准备。这次激光实验旨在以比目前远离地球的航天器使用的无线电系统高出100倍的速率发送数据。

More tests are planned as Psyche heads towards the main area of asteroids⁵ between the planets Mars and Jupiter. But Taters will not be making anymore appearances, JPL said.

喷气推进实验室表示，随着普赛克飞船前往火星和木星之间小行星的主要区域，计划进行更多实验。但是“土豆”不会再出现了。

Joby Harris is an art director in JPL's DesignLab. He could not be any happier, but he does not want his cat's new public attention to go to his head.

乔比·哈里斯是喷气推进实验室设计实验室的艺术总监。他再高兴不过了，但他不想让他的猫再次受到公众关注。

"I'm celebrating his spotlight⁶ with him but making sure he keeps his paws on the carpet," Harris said in an email Tuesday.

哈里斯在周二的一封电子邮件中说：“我和它一起庆祝它的露脸时刻，但要确保它把爪子放在地毯上。”

1 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

3 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

6 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。