了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S09E02

Part 2 March 16, 2022, 8:54 a.m.

如果没有与宇宙飞船的持续沟通
and without the constant
communication with
当那一天到来时
that spacecraft,
是时候打开开关了，让它重新启动
just is a little nerve-racking
when the day comes
这会让人感觉有点神经紧张
and it's time to flip
the switch and turn it back on.
2014年1月20日
January 20th, 2014.
在太空中生活了近10年后
After almost 10 years in
space, it was finally time for
“罗塞塔”号♥终于该醒来了
Rosetta to wake up,
重新启动通讯系统，并打电♥话♥回家
reactivate its communication
system, and phone home.
拉德堡:我的意思是，紧张的气氛是显而易见的
RADEBAUGH: I mean, the tension
was just palpable.
只是，我是说，我们要等多久
It was just, I mean,
how long do we have to wait
才能收到信♥号♥♥？
before we're gonna
get the signal?
谢里丹:一定要成功它必须奏效
SHERIDAN: It's got to work.
It has to work.
哦，天哪，也许它就是打不开
Oh, gosh, maybe it's just not
gonna turn on it all.
我们失去飞船了吗？
Have we lost the spacecraft?
然后峰值出现在了图表上
And then the peak
appeared on the graph.
[胜利的音乐]
[triumphant music]
这就像，是的，我们已经和宇宙飞船取得了联♥系♥
It's like, yes, we've got
contact with the spacecraft.
[胜利的音乐]
[triumphant music]
♪♪
“罗塞塔”号♥开始发回其目标的图像
Rosetta began to send
back images of its target,
几个月后，它在远处看到了一个小点
and after months of seeing
a small dot in the distance,
这颗彗星慢慢变得清晰起来
the comet slowly came
into focus.
塞勒:当我看到这颗彗星，晶莹剔透
THALLER: When I saw this comet,
crystal clear,
这座山漂浮在冰雪和岩石的空间里
this mountain floating
in space of ice and rock,
我心里的石头落地了……它们是我见过的
my heart just dropped... they
are some of the most dramatic,
最具戏剧性、最美丽的图片
beautiful images
I have ever seen.
普莱特:然后，随着它越来越近，我们看到了
PLAIT: Then, as it got closer,
and we got to see more
它越来越多的细节，是的
and more details on it, yeah,
事情开始变得非常奇怪
that's when things started
getting really strange.
沃尔什:很简单，到达67P的时候
WALSH:
Quite simply, arrival at 67P,
我们以为会看到土豆形状的东西
we expected to see something
shaped like a potato,
结果发现了一个形状像橡皮鸭的东西
and we found something shaped
like a rubber duck.
67P不是丑小鸭
67P is no ugly duckling,
但它奇怪的形状给“罗塞塔”带来了麻烦
but its strange shape created
a problem for Rosetta.
绕彗星轨道运行
Orbiting the comet
was going to be
比任何人想象的都要困难得多
far more difficult
than anyone had imagined.
泰勒:行星有很大的引力
THALLER: A planet has
a lot of gravity,
所以你可以把宇宙飞船送到那里
so you can send the spacecraft
out there and then just slow it
然后用火箭助推让它稍微慢一点
down a little bit
with a rocket burn,
然后它就会掉入轨道
and it will drop into orbit.
但对于67P彗星来说
In the case of Comet 67P,
你面对的是一块非常小的岩石
you're dealing with
a very small little rock.
宇宙飞船感觉不到那块岩石的引力
The spacecraft cannot feel
the gravity of that rock,
至少在正对着它之前感觉不到
at least not until
it's right up against it.
谢里丹:嗯，工程师们必须画出
SHERIDAN: Well, the engineers
had to actually plot
三角形轨道
triangular orbits.
那是一组非常复杂的运动
It was a very complicated
set of maneuvers.
一旦进入轨道，“罗塞塔”就可以开始工作了
Once in orbit,
Rosetta could start work.
它的第一个任务……
Its first task...
弄清楚67P是如何形成的
Figure out how 67P formed.
兰扎:那么这颗彗星是怎么形成这种奇怪形状的呢？
LANZA: So how did this comet
get this weird shape?
主要有两个观点
There's two main ideas.
一是它的中心被侵蚀了
One is just that it was eroded
somehow in the center.
所以它一开始是一个更球形的东西
And so it started off
as a more spherical thing
通过一些未知的过程变成了
and became the shape
it is today through some
今天的形状
unknown process.
另一种观点是，它一开始
The other idea is that
it started
是两个独♥立♥的物体
as two separate objects.
太空岩石通常会相互猛烈撞击
Space rocks normally
hit each other hard.
它们的平均碰撞速度
They collide with
an average impact speed
超过每小时11000英里（约17700公里）
of more than
11,000 miles an hour.
这比步♥枪♥子弹快五倍
That's five times faster
than a rifle bullet.
67P是否与连环相撞有关？
Was 67P involved in a pile-up?
线索来自彗星表面的不同层
A clue came from the distinct
layers on the comet's surface.
彗星67P上的层
The layers in Comet 67P
有点像洋葱里的层
are a little like
the layers in an onion.
如果你看到它们排成一行，那就说明也许这个物体
If you see them aligned,
that's a clue that perhaps
是作为一个单一的实体形成的
the object formed
as a single entity
只是后来被侵蚀成了现在的形式
and only eroded later
into its present form.
但如果你看到这些层错位了，就像我们在彗星上
But if you see those layers
misaligned like we actually do
看到的那样，这是一个很大的线索
in the comet, that's a big clue
说明它最初是两个
that it started out
as two separate
独♥立♥的物体形成的
objects formed independently,
粘在一起形成了我们今天看到的彗星
sticking together to form
the comet we see today.
这些层证明了67P最初
The layers prove
that 67P was
是两个分开的物体融合在一起的
originally two separate
objects that fused together.
知道67P彗星是从两个不同的部分
The process of potentially
putting Comet 67P
组合在一起的过程很重要
together from two
different pieces
因为它可以告诉我们
is important, because it can
teach us about what was
太阳系早期发生了什么
happening in the early
solar system.
所以据我们所知
So as far as we can tell,
这两个独♥立♥的物体一定是
these two separate bodies
must have
在同一区域形成的
been formed in the same area.
它们在成分上非常相似
They're very similar
in composition,
但它们非常轻，非常蓬松如果它们
but they are so light and
fluffy that they would have
快速撞击的话，就会互相摧毁
destroyed each other
if they had hit fast.
他们低速相撞
They had a low speed collision
就像两个湿雪球一样黏在一起
and basically stuck together
like two wet snowballs.
随着一个谜题的解开
With one mystery solved,
Rosetta began to
“罗塞塔”开始研究67P的化学组成
investigate the chemical
makeup of 67P.
这颗小彗星可以回答
The little comet
could answer one
行星科学中最大的问题之一
of the biggest questions
in planetary science.
我们这颗蓝色星球的水是从哪里来的？
From where did our blue planet
get its water?
“罗塞塔号♥”的任务就，前往40亿英里（约6♥4♥亿公里）远的
The Rosetta Mission,
a four billion mile journey
67P彗星，以及追溯
to Comet 67P
and a 4.5 billion-year