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How to revive a satellite 如何修复卫星 WE JUST made contact. I need to talk to you in 30 minutes," says Keith Cowing, the editor of NASA Watch, an online publication. Just as Babbage called him, Mr Cowing received word from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico that his colleagues had made contact with a NASA satellite launched in August 1978. When your correspondent called back, Mr Cowing was irrepressible: the satellite had responded to commands and was now set into "coherent ranging mode", which should make it easier to talk to it. The group had captured the satellite. “我们刚刚取得联系！我需要在30分钟内与你谈谈，”网络杂志《太空视野》的编辑基斯 科文（Keith Cowing）说道. 就在巴贝奇和他打电话时，科文先生收到了来自波多黎各阿雷西博天文台的讯息，他的同事已与一颗1978年8月由美国宇航局发射的卫星取得了联系。当驻地记者打电话回来，科文先生压抑不住激动的心情：卫星对发出的命令进行了回应并设置成了“连贯测距模式”，此模式下卫星将便于与外界沟通。该小组捕捉到了卫星。
“This was no act of space piracy. Mr Cowing, Dennis Wingo of Skycorp and several other experts had received permission from NASA to take control of a satellite for which the space agency has no further purpose nor funding. With the help of nearly $160,000, raised through crowdfunding, the team hopes to start a new mission and release the raw data that emerge. “宇航局在此项目上已没有进一步计划，也不会再有任何投资。因此科文先生、来自私人空间探索公司Skycorp的丹尼斯与其他专家已经获得了美国宇航局首肯的控制该卫星的权力。该小组已经通过群众集资筹集到160000美元，该团队希望将随着新任务产生的新数据公布于众。
The International Solar-Environment Explorer (ISEE-3, see picture) completed its initial mission close to the sun, where it took measurements of solar properties, and was repurposed in 1983 to hunt comets as the International Cometary Explorer (ICE). During its second lease on life it intercepted comet Giacobini-Zinner in 1985 and then transited between the sun and Halley in 1986. This repurposing involved a series of intricate flybys of the Earth and the moon to slingshot the satellite into its comet-tracking trajectory. NASA shut down the mission in 1997, although occasionally checked in on the bird's status. 国际太阳能环境资源管理器（ISEE-3，见图片）完成了其接近太阳并测量太阳性能这一最初使命，并在1985年重新改组为捕捉彗星为目的的国际彗星探测器（ICE）。在第二次租赁期间，它在1985年成功拦截了贾可比尼—金纳（Giacobini-Zinner）彗星，并在1986年将该彗星运输到了太阳与哈雷彗星之间。这次轨道转换包括了一系列复杂的介于地球与月亮之间的定点飞行，将卫星弹到彗星跟踪轨道。NASA在1997年终止了该任务，只是偶尔会检查一下这颗卫星的状态。
Before they turned off the light, Robert Farquhar, the mission's flight-dynamics manager, and his team used the satellite's propulsion system to set it on a course that 28 years after its final scientific measurements in 1986 would bring it close to Earth. The rendezvous is rapidly approaching. Dr Farquhar is now part of the ISEE-3 Reboot Project to re-establish contact. Mr Cowing says participants range in age from their 20s to their 80s, and include ex-NASA employees like himself as well as a current one who works on the project in his spare time. 在他们终止任务之前，飞行动力负责人罗伯特法夸尔(Robert Farquhar)与他的团队使用该卫星的推进系统为其设定了一条路线，在1986年最后一次科学测量的28年后，卫星将从这条路线接近地球。这场约会即将如期而至。法夸尔博士现在负责ISEE-3重启项目中重新建立联系的部分。科文先生说，参与者的年龄从20多岁到80多岁不等，不妨有跟他一样的前美国航空航天局的员工以及在业余时间参与这个项目的人。
Although the ISEE-3 was launched a year later than the Voyager 1 and 2 probes, its computers are much less powerful. The Voyagers had redundant sets of three separate computers and could store and execute programs, as well as radiological power sources. ISEE-3 can be triggered through radio commands to execute sequences of actions, but it cannot be put into an autonomous mode. Its batteries failed 20 years ago, and it is now entirely dependent on solar power. 尽管ISEE-3比旅行者1号以及其他两个探测器要晚发射一年，它的电脑设备却远不如前者。旅行者冗余设置了三个独立的计算机,可以存储，执行程序以及控制放射性能源。ISEE-3可以通过无线电命令触发执行一系列动作,但不能自主运行。它的电池电量在20年前已经耗尽,现在完全依赖太阳能发电。
It appears to have survived unscathed the long occupancy of the orbit in which it was parked. However, celestial mechanics have put the satellite about 250,000km off from where it was expected. Mr Cowing and his colleagues are slightly worried that it may bash into the moon or wander too close to Earth. The craft has antennas measuring 30 metres and extending in four directions, which at a certain altitude above Earth could cause problems. "It's a 360-foot spinning cookie cutter," says Mr Cowing. ISEE-3似乎毫发无损的在长期占用的轨道中幸存下来。然而，天体力学将其推到距离预期地点250000公里远。科文先生与同事有点担心它会撞到月球上或者漂移得太接近地球。它有四根30米长的天线，分别向四个方向延展开来。在地球上方一定高度可能会导致问题。“这是一个360英尺的旋转着的切饼机。”科文先生说。
That the reboot project has got that far is remarkable. Unable to receive a clear go-ahead or an outright no from NASA a few months ago, it set out to raise funds hoping that this might prompt the space agency to acquiesce. It is the first time in NASA's history that operational control has been handed over, and NASA made the announcement on May 23rd with due fanfare. 重启项目取得现有进展是令人瞩目的。几个月前因为他们既没有从美国宇航局那里得到明确的许可，也没有收到明令禁止。项目组开始着手筹集资金，希望这会促使航天局默许。这是美国宇航局的历史上第一次移交运行控制权，美国宇航局在5月23日大肆宣传该通告。
With the original software, computers or telecoms gear long gone, the team—with the help of some original mission members and others in and out of NASA who knew where to find the old manuals—recreated the equipment, including a software-defined radio system that allows talking and listening to the satellite. The Arecibo Observatory also provided help: it installed gear purchased by the Reboot Project and allowed it to use Arecibo's huge satellite dish free during downtimes. The team faced downpours of rain and even an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 while one of the volunteers worked near the dish. 原来的软件、电脑和电信设备早已经没有了，团队（在一些原任务成员与其他能找到旧操作手册的非宇航局成员的帮助下）重新创建这些设备,包括一个能与卫星沟通的软件无线电系统, 阿雷西博天文台亦提供帮助：它安装了重新启动项目购买的齿轮，并允许团队在停机期间免费使用阿雷西博巨大的碟形卫星天线。一次，该团队的志愿者在碟形天线附近工作时，天降大雨，甚至伴随有5.8级地震！
Much remains to be determined. Mr Cowing and his colleagues have yet to decide whether the satellite is to explore more comets or to use it for other purposes. Just as both Voyager probes remain active and Voyager 1's ancient instruments in 2013 produced measurements that upended some long-held notions about interstellar magnetic fields, the group expects that its craft can provide data worth examining. The team will soon give up its big "ear" at Arecibo and decamp to Morehead State University in Kentucky: the initial capture and the repositioning allow the use of the smaller dish there. 还有很多事情需要确定。科文先生与同事们尚未觉得该将该卫星用于探索更多彗星或者其他用途。就像两个旅行者探测器至今仍在使用，2013年旅行者1号使用它古老的仪器测量颠覆了一些长久以来的星际磁场观念,该团队预计,其技术可以提供有价值的数据。团队将很快放弃它在阿雷西博“大耳朵”，逃亡到肯塔基的莫尔州立大学：初始捕获和重新定位允许使用较小的碟形卫星天线。
This initial contact indicates that the satellite's computer and radios are functioning. The next steps are to determine more fully whether its control systems work as expected and test its instrumentation and propulsion. The team must fire its rockets by mid-June to reposition ISEE-3. The next big challenge will come when the satellite swings around the moon onto its shadowed side and is cut off from the sun. The craft will power down for the first time in many years, and the team hopes when it sees it again, it will wake up and resume communications. It has lasted this long, and the group hopes for many more years to come. "This thing has had a second act, and we're giving it its third," says Mr Cowing. 这次联系表示卫星的电脑与无线设备还在运转。下一步将更充分确定卫星的控制系统是否跟预期的一样在运作，并测试卫星的仪表与推进系统。团队必须在六月中旬发射火箭来重新定位ISEE-3。当卫星绕月球的背光面，没有太阳光照射时，这将是有一次巨大的挑战。这个设备将多年来首次断电，团队希望当卫星再次被太阳照射，它能够苏醒并恢复通信。卫星已经运行了很长时间，团队希望它可以继续运行很多年。“这个卫星已经执行过第二次任务，我们将让它执行第三次”科文先生说。 翻译：小布 校对： 塔塔 小潮 总监 : 小潮 副总监 :攸宁 树屋字幕组-文翻组 翻译仅供学习交流，严禁用于商业用途 PDF下载：
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发表于 2014-12-18 00:17:47
