新星：回到月球（2011）

their first opportunity to search
第一次有机会去寻找
for the permanently shadowed cold traps--
永久阴影区的冷阱--
predicted to exist at the poles.
存在于两极
By bouncing Clementine's communition signals
通过反射克莱门汀的通讯信♥号♥♥
off the moon's polar gegions,
在月球的极地地区，
a bit like a radar pulse,
有点像雷达脉冲，
the mission scientists
任务科学家
hope that any ice might show up by reflecting the radio waves.
希望反射无线电波让冰显现出来
As data pours into the Bat Cave,
当数据涌入蝙蝠洞，
everyone is glued to their screens.
每个人都紧紧盯着屏幕
It was in the floor of Shackleton Crater,
它在沙克尔顿陨石坑的底部，
inside that permanently shadowed crater
在那永远阴影笼罩的陨石坑里
that they saw this signal was consistent with buried ice.
他们看到的信♥号♥♥和埋在地下的冰是相符的
On March 12,1996,
1996年3月12日，
the Pentagon summons the press to reveal their discovery.
五角大楼向新闻界公布他们的发现
Well,yes,
嗯，是的，
the answer is we think we have found ice.
答案是我们认为找到了冰
This is an indication
这表明了
that living on the moon might be possible.
在月球上生活是可能的
You may be looking in this photograph,
你在看的这张照片，
of possibly the most valuable piece of real estate
可能是最有价值的一块地♥产♥
in the solar system.
在太阳系里
The discovery of water ice
水冰的发现
on the moon re-ignites dreams
在月球上重新点燃了梦想
of harnessing space resources for a lunar base.
利用太空资源建立月球基地
But how much water is really there?
但实际上有多少水呢？
And could it be harvested economically?
它能经济地开采吗？
In 2008,as NASA prepares to launch
2008年，美国宇航局准备发射
the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to image the moon,
月球勘测轨道器拍摄月球图像，
a change of plan requires a different rocket for the launch.
改变计划后需要另一枚火箭发射
The new vehicle has the power to carry almost a ton
这新火箭几乎能载一吨♥
of extra payload to the moon.
去往月球的额外载荷
Can they use that extra capacity
他们能用那个额外的载荷
to take a closer look at the water ice
仔细勘测一下水冰
Clementine glimpsed?
克莱门汀项目曾瞥见的冰？
The opportunity
这个机会
piques the interest of Anthony Colaprete,
激起了安东尼·科拉普雷特的兴趣，
a young planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center.
美国宇航局艾姆斯研究中心的年轻行星科学家
We said,"Ok,what if we crash something into the moon
我们说，“好吧，如果我们发射个物体撞击月球
and we looked at the ejecta?"
看看能溅起来什么？”
I called up Pete because he's the guy you go to
我打电♥话♥给皮特是因为他是你该找的人
if you want to crash something into another body,
如果你想把什么物体撞到另一个星球上，
planetary body,he knows impacts.
行星体的事，他很懂
And I thought,
我想，
"Oh,yeah,bash something into the moon?"
“哦，是的，把什么物体砸到月亮上？”
Well,this was something that was going to smash through
好吧，这东西会砸到
to an area you couldn't see
一个你看不见的地方
in the cold traps.
在冷阱里
By crashing an object into the moon,
把一个物体撞到月球上，
they hope to observe lunar material ejected from the impact
他们希望观察从撞击中喷溅出来的月球物质
and determine if it contains ice.
确定里面是否有冰
So we came up with the idea of,
所以我们想到了一个点子，
"Why don't we use
“我们为什么不用
the spent upper stage of the rocket
用完的火箭上面级
that was pushing us to the moon?"
把我们推上月球的火箭？”
Ingeniously,
很巧妙，
by using part of the rocket itself as the impactor,
利用火箭本身的一部分作为撞击器，
they can then use the extra payload space
然后他们可以使用额外的有效载荷空间
for a separate spacecraft carrying instruments
装载一个安装仪器的航♥天♥器
that will follow a few minutes behind,
跟随在火箭之后几分钟，
recording the impact at close range,
近距离记录撞击，
and hurriedly sending its data back to Earth,
极快地将数据传回地球，
before smashing into the moon itself.
然后它也会撞在月球上
Such a complex mission
如此复杂的任务
is hard to pull off with such little time,
很难在这么短的时间内成功，
but the rewards--
但是回报--
should they succeed--will be huge.
如果他们成功的话——将会是巨大的
I was really intrigued
我真的很感兴趣
and I know that we could do this,
我知道我们可以做到，
but the idea of actually using a spent rocket,
但利用已经用完的火箭，
that was almost like crazy talk.
那简直是疯狂的想法
Anthony and Peter calculate
安东尼和彼得计算
that they would need to create a debris cloud
他们需要制♥造♥撞击碎片云
at least half a mile high
至少半英里高
to stand a chance of detecting any water.
才有机会发现水
To test the feasibility,they turn to a trusty tool
为了测试可行性，他们借助于一个可靠的工具
from the Apollo era.
阿波罗时代的发明
This faclity is
这种设备就是
the Ames Vertical Gun Range.
艾姆斯垂直射击靶场
It's a large vertical gun
这是一把大型直射枪
used for firing projectiles into targets
用于向目标发射子弹
to study cratering processes.
研究弹坑形成过程
We have a battery of high-speed cameras,
我们有一组高速摄影机，
going up to a million frames per second.
每秒高达一百万帧
We can look at it from different locations,
我们可以从不同的地方看，
just be able to simulate,
这样能模拟，
get a sense of what we might see.
了解可能发生的真实情况
High voltage is good.
高压正常
We have ready lights.
我们已就绪
Firing projectiles at high speed
高速发射炮弹
into a simulated lunar surface...
射击模拟月球表面…
Peter and Anthony spend months trying to figure out
彼得和安东尼花了好几个月想弄清楚
what the impact plume might look like.
撞击羽流可能是什么样子
Stop,stop!
停，停！
Go backwards.
倒回去
That's the projectile coming down.
这就是正在飞的子弹
Ok,Pow!
好的，噗！
The idea behind these experiments
这些实验的想法
were to get a better handle on getting enough material
是为了更好地把足够的物质
into sunlight from that deep hole.
从深坑里溅射出来到阳光里
If we didn't get enough material,we were dead.
如果我们没有足够的物质，我们就死定了
LCROSS launches on June 18,2009.
LCROSS于2009年6月18日发射
It takes four months to catch up with the moon
到月球需要四个月
and get into position for impact.
准备好撞击
In the early evening of October 8,2009,
2009年10月8日傍晚，
the Centaur rocket stage impactor begins its approach.
半人马座火箭撞击器开始接近
All stations flight.30 seconds to end of science cal.
所有飞行小组。30秒之后自动控制结束
With the spent rocket stage and following spacecraft
带着火箭和航♥天♥器
now on unstoppable impact trajectories with the moon,
在与月球不可撤回的撞击轨道上，
all Peter and Anthony can do is watch and wait.
彼得和安东尼只能眼巴巴地等着
Mark transition to DV mode.
标记切换到DV模式
At 3:31 in the morning Pacific time,
太平洋时间凌晨3点31分，
the Centaur hits.
半人马座撞击
Minutes later,the shepherding craft follows
在它后面几分钟后紧跟着的航♥天♥器
and starts collecting data,
开始收集数据，
rushing to transmit it before its own demise.
在它自己撞击之前迅速传输
So we had a press conference...
所以我们开了个记者招待会…
of course,everyone's like,"Well,what'd you see?
当然，每个人都会说，“你看到了什么？
"Did you see water?Did you see this?"
“你看见水了吗？你看到这个了吗？”
"How much?How much?"Yeah,"How much."
“多少？多少？”是的，“多少”
Indeed,yes,we found water,
的确，是的，我们找到了水，
and we didn't find just a little bit,
我们不是找到一点，
we found a significant amount.
我们发现了很多
In the 20 to 30 meter
在20到30米宽的
crater outcross maybe we found maybe about a dozen of these
陨石坑我们发现了能装满一打
two gallon buckets worth of water.
两加仑桶的水
Finding so much water
找到这么多水
in such a relatively small area changes everything;
在这样一个相对较小的区域里，一切都变了；
and heralds new excitement for lunar exploration.
预示着探月的新的发力点
The LCROSS is the most direct evidence that we have
LCROSS是我们掌握的最直接的证据