(单词翻译:单击)
60 years ago this month, in January 1958, The United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1.
60年前的这个月，即1958年1月，美国发射了第一颗人造卫星“探索者1号”。
It started a legacy and launched the longest-running space exploration program in history,
它开始了一个传奇，并启动了历史上最长的太空探索项目，
so you'd think making it would have been part of some big plan figured out years in advance.
所以你会认为它是几年前确认的某个大计划的一部分。
But nope. Instead, Explorer 1 and the modified rocket that launched it were finished in just 84 days.
但实际不是。相反，“探索者”1号和发射它的改装火箭仅在84天内完成。
And we had a lot to figure out in those three months.
在这三个月里我们有很多事情要做。
But somehow, we did it.
但不管怎么说，我们成功了。
Like most of America's early space program,
与大多数美国早期的太空计划一样，
Explorer 1 was a result of the Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union.
“探险者1号”是冷战时期与苏联斗争的产物。
In October 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite.
1957年10月，苏联发射了世界上第一颗人造卫星“Sputnik”。
And what did the US do?
美国做了什么？
It freaked out. Like, seriously panicked.
它吓坏了，陷入了严重的恐慌。
In the race to claim the high ground of space, America was clearly behind.
在争夺太空高地的竞赛中，美国显然落后了。
To make matters worse, when the US attempted to launch its first satellite that December,
更糟糕的是，美国在当年12月试图发射第一颗卫星时，
it failed just over a meter off the launchpad.
它飞离发射台一米就失败了。
Newspapers called it "Kaputnik”. Ouch.
报纸称之为“Kaputnik”。太难听了。
Since NASA didn't even exist yet,
由于当时还没有宇航局，
coming up with a successful and fast response to Sputnik
快速想出应对“Sputnik”成功方案的任务
fell to the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, better known today as JPL.
落在了美国陆军弹道导弹机构和喷射推进实验室，也就是今天的喷气推进实验室（JPL）上。
And in an incredible feat of engineering, Explorer 1 launched not even three months later.
在这项了不起的工程壮举中，“探索者1号”不到三个月就发射了，
Take that Kaputnik.
接替那个“Kaputnik”。
But that's definitely not how things were supposed to happen.
但这绝对不是事情的真相。
As a show of peace, the US had long planned to launch their first satellite on top of a modified sounding rocket.
作为一种和平表现，美国早就计划用改装过的探测火箭发射第一颗人造卫星。
Sounding rockets are used mainly to help study the Earth's climate,
探测火箭主要用来帮助他们研究地球气候，
so this would be a clear signal that this was a mission of science,
所以它明确表明这是一项科学使命，
and that we weren't trying to start an actual war with the Soviet Union or anything.
我们并没有试图与苏联或其他任何国家开战。
But after that first failure, the Army just needed something that would work,
但在第一次失败后，军方需要一些有用的东西，
so they turned to the Jupiter-C rocket,
所以他们转向丘比特-C探空火箭，
which was used as a test platform for intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
它被用作中程弹道导弹的测试平台。
Also, the rocket that launched Sputnik was a modified missile, not a sounding rocket,
另外，发射人造卫星的火箭是一种改进型导弹，而不是探测火箭，
so the show of peace seemed less important by that point.
因此，在这一点上，表现和平似乎不那么重要了。
Even though it had three stages, or segments,
即使它有三级，
which these days is more than enough to launch satellites,
今天也足以发射人造卫星了，
the Jupiter-C wasn't powerful enough to put something into orbit,
但丘比特-C探空火箭的力量不足以把它推进轨道，
so the Army did the only thing it had time to do: duct-tape on a fourth stage.
于是军队做了唯一有时间能做的事：用管道胶带连接第四级。
Well, not literally. But adding another stage did make the setup seem kinda ridiculous.
哦，这不是真的，但是另外增加一级确实让装备看起来有点儿荒谬。
It was a like building a triple-decker bus.
这就像建造一辆三层巴士。
Like sure, it's possible to do that, but it's not exactly the most like elegant solution,
当然，这样做是有可能的，但并不是最完美的解决方案，
and it can create more opportunities for things to go wrong with computers or engines.
它还能创造更多机会让电脑或引擎出错。
For comparison, most rockets today usually only have two or three stages.
相比之下，今天的大多数火箭通常只有两到三级。
And much better computers.
而且电脑更好。
But even with all that, the satellite itself still had to be really small,
但即便如此，卫星本身还是很小，
just 14 kilograms, or about as much weight as a beagle.
只有14公斤，像小猎犬一样重。
And about 40% of that weight was needed for its battery,
其中大约40%是电池的重量，
which didn't leave a lot of weight for other things.
没有给其他东西留下太多的重量。
So the engineering team had to get creative.
所以工程团队必须创新。
To relay data back to Earth, they equipped the satellite with an innovative antenna system.
为了将数据传回地球，他们用创新天线系统装备了卫星，
And by "innovative", I mean really weird.
“innovative”一词，我觉得很奇怪。
It consisted four wire "whips", which extended into a large transmitter as the spacecraft spun along its axis.
它由四根电线“鞭子”组成，当宇宙飞船沿着它的轴旋转时，它延伸成了一个大发射器。
Also, in order to keep the radio and other instruments from getting too hot or too cold,
同时，为了防止无线电设备和其他仪器变得太热或太冷，
Explorer 1 needed a temperature control system, but without the weight of fancy radiators.
“探索者”1号需要一个温度控制系统，但不需要花哨的散热器。
So what did JPL do? They painted the spacecraft in stripes of white and green.
那么JPL做了什么？他们把宇宙飞船涂上白色和绿色的条纹。
Since different colors transmit different amounts of heat,
因为不同的颜色传递不同的热量，
the area of white versus green could be tuned for just the right equilibrium temperature.
白色和绿色区域可以调整为适当的平衡温度。
On January 31st, 1958, 119 days after the launch of Sputnik 1, all this was put to the test. And it worked!
1958年1月31日，“Sputnik”1号发射后的119天，所有设备都投入测试并且成功了！
Getting into space was a big enough accomplishment,
进入太空本身就是一项了不起的成就，
but Explorer 1 also performed pioneering scientific experiments in orbit.
但“探索者”1号还在轨道上进行了开拓性的科学实验。
For one, it carried a Geiger counter to make the first direct measurements of the radiation environment in outer space.
首先，它携带了一个盖革计数器，对外太空的辐射环境进行第一次直接测量。
At times the counter registered so much radiation that it overwhelmed the sensors, which baffled scientists.
有时，计数器显示的辐射太多，使科学家们迷惑不解。
Eventually, they figured out this was the result of radiation trapped by Earth's magnetic field,
最终，他们发现这是受地球磁场辐射的结果，
regions we now call the Van Allen Belts after the leader of Explorer 1's scientific investigations.
在“探索者”1号的科学调查之后，我们现在称这个区域为范艾伦带。
The mission also carried a pair of experiments designed to measure the rate at which micrometeorites strike the Earth.
该任务还进行了一组实验，旨在测量微陨石撞击地球的速率。
One consisted of a wire grid mounted on the outside skin of the spacecraft.
其中一个是安装在飞船外皮上的丝网。
If a small particle struck the grid, one of the wires would break, altering an electric circuit.
如果一个小粒子击中了电网，有根电线就会断裂，从而改变电路。
The other was a microphone inside the spacecraft that listened for the “plink” of a particle striking the hull.
另一个是飞船内的麦克风，它监听粒子撞击船体的“叮”声。
Over about a day, it picked up 145 impacts,
在大约一天的时间里，它撞击了145次，
giving scientists their first direct measurement of natural space debris.
让科学家们第一次直接测量到自然的空间碎片。
None of this seems exactly hi-tech, but hey, it got the job done.
这些似乎都不是高科技，但是，嘿，它完成了任务。
Even though Explorer 1 only lasted a few months, it began a program that continues today.
尽管“探索者”1号只持续了几个月，但它开启了一个持续至今的项目。
In 2013, NASA launched a spacecraft to study the atmosphere of the sun.
2013年，宇航局发射了一艘宇宙飞船，用来研究太阳的大气层。
It was called IRIS, but its official record lists it by another name: Explorer 94.
它被称为IRIS，但它的官方记录以另一个名字命名：“探索者”94号。
In the next couple of months, NASA will launch ICON and GOLD,
在接下来的几个月里，宇航局将发射ICON和GOLD，
two Explorers that will study part of Earth's upper atmosphere.
这两个“探索者”将研究地球上层大气的某个部分。
And this year, they'll also launch TESS, which will search 200,000 nearby stars for exoplanets.
今年，他们还将发射“TESS”，它将在附近搜寻20万颗恒星来寻找系外行星。
By the early 2020s, we'll probably even see the launch of the 100th Explorer mission.
到本世纪20年代初，我们甚至可能会看到第100个“探险者”任务的启动。
Although they've each had their own goals,
虽然它们每个都有自己的目标，
all the missions in the Explorer program have followed in the footsteps of America's first satellite from 60 years ago.
但“探索者”项目的所有任务都跟随着60年前美国第一颗卫星的脚步。
And one thing's for sure: We're definitely a lot better at building satellites than we were in 1958.
有一件事值得肯定：我们在建造卫星方面肯定比1958年要好得多。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space!
感谢您收看本期的太空科学秀！
If you love learning about space history, news, and other weird things in the universe as much as we do,
如果你像我们一样，喜欢了解宇宙的历史、新闻和其他奇怪的东西，
you can go to youtube.com/scishowspace and subscribe.
就登录youtube.com/scishowspace点击订阅吧！
