航海家號跨越150億英里的軟體更新：英語精讀講義

In 2015,

在2015年，

NASA put out a job posting looking for a software engineer with a specific set of skills. 片語搭配

NASA發布了一份徵才啟事，尋找具備特定技能的軟體工程師。

The person had to be an expert in FORTRAN and assembly,

這個人必須是FORTRAN和組合語言的專家，

two programming languages from the '40s and '50s that most young graduates don't know.

這是大多數年輕畢業生都不了解的四五十年代的兩門程式語言。

The job was to join the very small team of people working on the Voyager space probes.

這份工作是要加入負責航海家號太空探測器的極小團隊。

Incredibly,

令人難以置信的是，

both Voyagers still run on their original 50-year-old computers, 片語動詞

兩艘航海家號至今仍在運行它們原始的有50年歷史的電腦，

which have just 70 kilobytes of memory.

這些電腦只有70 KB的記憶體。

It might not sound like much, 文法

聽起來可能不多，

but it was enough to navigate both space probes through our solar system and make incredible discoveries along the way.

但它足以引導兩艘探測器穿越我們的太陽系，並沿途做出驚人的發現。

Unsurprisingly,

不出所料，

things do go wrong with Voyager's computers. 文法

航海家號的電腦確實會出故障。

Just last year,

就在去年，

Voyager 1 started sending back garbled telemetry data about its orientation in space. 用詞

航海家1號開始傳回關於其在太空中姿態的亂碼遙測數據。

On top of that, 表達脈絡

除此之外，

the thrusters in charge of keeping Voyager pointing in the right direction were starting to show signs of fatigue. 慣用語

負責保持航海家號指向正確方向的推進器開始出現老化跡象。

Every time the thrusters are used, 文法

每次使用推進器時，

tiny pieces of hydrazine fuel get stuck in the pipes.

都會有微小的聯氨燃料碎屑卡在管道中。

This has built up over time, 片語動詞

隨著時間的推移，這些碎屑不斷堆積，

causing blockages in the system.

導致系統阻塞。

Voyager is already on its backup thrusters,

航海家號已經在使用備用推進器了，

and so if these failed, 文法

因此如果這些也失效了，

it would be the end for Voyager.

航海家號的使命就將終結。

At a distance of 15 billion miles,

在150億英里之外，

there is no way of clearing the tubes. 文法

沒有任何辦法可以清理管道。

But in order to slow down the buildup and fix the telemetry problem, 講解

但是為了減緩阻塞物的堆積並修復遙測問題，

the small team in charge of Voyager began writing a software update that would be sent across our universe to fix it.

負責航海家號的小團隊開始編寫一份軟體更新，將跨越宇宙發送過去以修復它。

There are three main computers on board Voyager.

航海家號上搭載了三台主電腦。

The main computer controls all of the major instruments,

主電腦控制所有主要儀器，

maintains its health and temperature,

維持其健康狀態和溫度，

and also controls the other two computers.

同時也控制著另外兩台電腦。

The second computer is in charge of Voyager's orientation,

第二台電腦負責航海家號的姿態定向，

so it looks for predetermined reference points

因此它會尋找預定的參考點，

and fires the thrusters to keep Voyager's antenna pointing towards Earth. 文法

並點燃推進器以保持航海家號的天線指向地球。

The third computer is in charge of storing and handling all of the scientific data and images taken by Voyager's instruments.

第三台電腦負責儲存和處理航海家號儀器拍攝和收集的所有科學數據與影像。

Voyager doesn't have an operating system,

航海家號沒有作業系統，

and any kind of programming language would take up too much space. 片語動詞

而且任何形式的程式語言都會占用太多空間。

But this isn't the first time Voyager has been updated. 文法

但這並不是航海家號第一次進行更新。

At Neptune,

在海王星時，

the light was 900 times dimmer than it was at Earth. 文法

光線比地球上暗900倍。

So in order to take pictures,

因此為了拍照，

engineers had to reprogram the camera to take longer exposures. 用詞

工程師們不得不重新編程相機以進行更長時間的曝光。

Once it left Neptune,

一旦離開海王星，

NASA began shutting down things like the camera and various scientific instruments to save power. 片語動詞

NASA就開始關閉相機和各種科學儀器以節省電力。

But with just 70 kilobytes of memory on board its computer,

但是其電腦上只有70 KB的記憶體，

having lines of code for dead instruments was a waste of space. 文法

為已經停用的儀器保留程式碼是一種空間浪費。

And so the engineers completely rewrote Voyager's code and performed a software update to make sure it continued to live for the foreseeable future. 片語搭配

因此，工程師們完全重寫了航海家號的程式碼並執行了軟體更新，以確保它在可預見的未來繼續存活。

But how does NASA update such old hardware from 15 billion miles away? 表達脈絡

但是，NASA是如何從150億英里外更新如此古老的硬體的呢？

To understand how difficult this is, 表達脈絡

要理解這有多困難，

we need to know how the software works on Voyager.

我們需要知道航海家號上的軟體是如何運作的。

Voyager runs the latest version of NordVPN.

航海家號運行的是最新版本的NordVPN。

Not really. 語氣意圖

開玩笑的。

NordVPN wouldn't fit on Voyager's computers,

NordVPN裝不進航海家號的電腦裡，

but if it did, 文法

但如果能裝下，

it would do a great job of protecting Voyager from online threats.

它將會在保護航海家號免受線上威脅方面做得非常出色。

Whenever you are connected to Wi-Fi,

每當你連接到Wi-Fi，

especially public Wi-Fi,

尤其是公共Wi-Fi時，

your data is constantly at risk from hackers.

你的數據經常面臨駭客的威脅。

With NordVPN,

有了NordVPN，

you can become instantly protected with just a single click.

只需點擊一下，你就能立即受到保護。

How many times have you gone to watch a YouTube video or Netflix series

有多少次你去看YouTube影片或Netflix劇集，

only to find it's blocked in your country? 文法

卻發現它在你所在的國家/地區被封鎖了？

With NordVPN,

有了NordVPN，

all you need to do is connect to one of the 5,000 servers, 文法

你只需要連接到其5000個伺服器中的一個，

and suddenly all the content you've been missing will appear.

你一直錯過的所有內容就會突然出現。

NordVPN has also launched Meshnet,

NordVPN還推出了Meshnet功能，

the safest way to connect to all of your devices,

這是連接你所有設備的最安全方式，

no matter where you are in the world.

無論你在世界的哪個角落。

It acts like a local area network

它就像一個區域網路，

and creates a secure way to directly access things like personal servers and share files around the world.

並創建了一種安全的方式來直接訪問個人伺服器並在全球範圍內分享檔案。

NordVPN works on every major platform

NordVPN適用於所有主要平台，

and can be installed on up to six devices at one time.

並且可以同時安裝在多達六台設備上。

To get NordVPN's 2-year plan plus 4 months for free,

要想免費獲得NordVPN兩年計畫外加4個月的服務，

visit nordvpn.com/primalspace.

請訪問 nordvpn.com/primalspace。

In order to do a software update on Voyager,

為了對航海家號進行軟體更新，

NASA needs to install the new code into its computers.

NASA需要將新程式碼安裝到其電腦中。

Perhaps the coolest thing about Voyager's computers is the memory.

也許航海家號電腦最酷的地方就是記憶體。

Each computer has its own plated wire memory,

每台電腦都有自己的鍍線記憶體，

which stores Voyager's code in its most basic form,

它以最基本的形式，即1和0，

ones and zeros.

儲存航海家號的程式碼。

This memory consists of a physical grid of wires and thin metal plates.

這種記憶體由物理的導線網格和薄金屬板組成。

Each intersection point can be thought of as a single bit of memory, 文法

每個交叉點可以被認為是一個單位的記憶體，

and it can store either a one or a zero.

它可以儲存一個1或一個0。

By passing a current through one of the plates and a specific wire, 文法

通過讓電流穿過其中一塊金屬板和特定導線，

it would create a magnetic field.

會產生一個磁場。

If the magnetic field is in this direction,

如果磁場是這個方向，

it is considered a zero.

就被認為是0。

If it goes in the opposite direction,

如果它是相反方向，

it's a one.

那就是1。

By passing a current in the opposite direction,

通過使電流反向通過，

it would change the direction of the magnetic field and flip the bit to a zero.

就會改變磁場的方向並將該位元翻轉為0。

By doing this for every point,

通過對每個點執行此操作，

you could save these ones and zeros into the memory.

你可以將這些1和0保存到記憶體中。

This design was a great choice at the time because it meant that even if the power went out, 文法

這個設計在當時是一個很好的選擇，因為這意味著即使斷電，

the ones and zeros would still be saved to the memory.

這些1和0依然會保存在記憶體中。

It also meant that each bit could be updated.

這也意味著每個位元都可以被更新。

With just 70 kilobytes of total memory on board Voyager,

由於航海家號上總共只有70 KB的記憶體，

the engineers have to be extremely efficient with their code.

工程師們必須讓他們的程式碼極其高效。

Along with this basic machine code,

除了這種基本的機器代碼外，

Voyager has its own pseudocode,

航海家號還有自己的虛擬碼，

basically a series of shortcut commands that can be triggered to carry out repetitive tasks without taking up too much memory. 講解

基本上就是一系列捷徑命令，可以被觸發來執行重複性任務，而不會占用太多記憶體。

An interpreter on board the main computer reads the ones and zeros.

主電腦上的直譯器讀取這些1和0。

Once it comes across a predetermined code, 片語動詞

一旦它遇到預定的程式碼，

it initiates the pseudocode to carry out a command.

就會啟動虛擬碼來執行命令。

This saves lots of memory and allows many tasks to be automated without writing out long lines of code. 文法

這節省了大量記憶體，並允許許多任務自動化，而無需編寫冗長的程式碼行。

But the problem is that humans can't code in just ones and zeros,

但問題是，人類無法只用1和0來編寫程式碼，

and so a more advanced language is needed to actually write the code for Voyager.

因此需要一種更高階的語言來實際為航海家號編寫程式碼。

On Earth,

在地球上，

Voyager's software was originally written in assembly language with a little bit of FORTRAN.

航海家號的軟體最初是用組合語言和少量的FORTRAN編寫的。

Assembly is a very simple language that can be understood by humans,

組合語言是一種人類能看懂的非常簡單的語言，

but is much closer to the basic ones and zeros of machine language.

但它更接近機器語言基礎的1和0。

Once the code is complete,

程式碼一旦完成，

it gets compiled into machine code, 文法

就會被編譯成機器代碼，

which can be sent to Voyager using the Deep Space Network. 文化背景

可以透過深空網路發送給航海家號。

The data is sent to Voyager at a rate of 16 bits per second, 片語搭配

數據以每秒16位元的速率發送給航海家號，

and it takes almost an entire day to actually reach Voyager. 文法

這幾乎需要一整天的時間才能實際送達航海家號。

The computers on board Voyager are interrupt-driven. 用詞

航海家號上的電腦是中斷驅動的。

This means that the software goes through its usual list of instructions until it gets interrupted. 講解

這意味著軟體會瀏覽其常規的指令列表，直到被中斷為止。

When an update is sent to Voyager,

當更新發送給航海家號時，

it carries an interrupt signal.

它帶有中斷訊號。

When Voyager receives this,

當航海家號收到這個訊號時，

it tells the main computer to stop what it's doing

它會告訴主電腦停止正在做的事情，

and instead work on the update instructions.

轉而去處理更新指令。

It then unloads the new code into the memory,

然後它將新程式碼加載到記憶體中，

flipping all the bits to their new position.

把所有的位元翻轉到它們的新位置。

The code is then read through to check that everything is correct, 片語動詞

隨後將讀取程式碼以檢查一切是否正確，

and then the main computer kicks it into gear and returns to normal operations. 慣用語

接著主電腦啟動它並恢復正常運作。

Over the years,

多年來，

Voyager has received a long list of updates and patches to fix and improve how it operates.

航海家號收到了一長串更新和修補程式，以修復和改進其運作方式。

In 1995,

在1995年，

an update was written that would basically restart certain components if they failed.

編寫了一個更新，基本上是在某些組件發生故障時重啟它們。

In 2014,

在2014年，

some 20 years after the code was written, 用詞

也就是程式碼寫完大約20年後，

this code saved Voyager 1 when a piece of hardware malfunctioned.

當一個硬體出現故障時，這段程式碼拯救了航海家1號。

In 2010,

在2010年，

a single bit of Voyager's memory was flipped,

航海家號記憶體中的一個位元被翻轉，

changing a zero to a one.

把一個0變成了1。

This caused computers to lose sync with each other, 片語搭配

這導致電腦相互失去同步，

and the commands started happening 2 1/2 hours later than expected.

指令的執行比預期晚了兩個半小時。

A software update was sent up to flip the faulty bit back into its correct position.

於是發送了軟體更新，以將故障的位元翻轉回正確的位置。

It's amazing stories like these that have allowed these iconic space probes to survive almost 50 years in space. 文法

正是這些驚人的故事，使得這些標誌性的太空探測器在太空中存活了近50年。

It's incredible that the physical wires, transistors, and hardware on board Voyager's computers

令人難以置信的是，航海家號電腦上的物理電線、電晶體和硬體，

are still operating as intended after all this time. 片語搭配

在經歷了這麼長的時間後，仍然能按預期運作。

And now for the Primal Space giveaway.

現在到了Primal Space的抽獎環節。

The winner of the previous giveaway is Yasmine.

上一次抽獎的獲勝者是Yasmine。

Congratulations.

恭喜。

In the next video,

在下個影片中，

we'll be giving away this Primal Space designed Voyager poster.

我們將送出這張由Primal Space設計的航海家號海報。

All you need to do is sign up at the link below,

你只需要在下方連結註冊，

like the video,

給影片按讚，

and leave a comment

並留下一條評論，

saying where you would send a Voyager 3 if it launched today.

說說如果今天發射航海家3號，你會把它送到哪裡。

Thank you very much for watching,

非常感謝觀看，

and I'll see you in the next video.

我們下個影片見。