The China Academy of Space Technology has announced plans to launch the worlds first X-ray pulsar navigation satellite (XPNAV-1) in November, Xinhua reported.据新华社报导,中国空间技术研究院早已宣告,计划将于11月份升空全球首颗X射线脉冲星导航系统卫星(XPNAV-1)。The move brings autonomous spacecraft navigation and a more precise deep-space GPS one step closer to reality.这一措施将使得航天器自律导航系统、以及更为精确的深度空间GPS定位更进一步相似现实。X-ray pulsar navigation is an innovative navigation technique wherein periodic X-ray signals emitted from pulsars are used to determine the location of a spacecraft in deep space.X射线脉冲星导航系统是一种创新性的导航系统技术,其中脉冲射电源可以收到周期性的X射线信号,可以用来在深度空间中确认航天器的方位。
Current ground-based navigation methods are limited by the time delay between spacecraft and the Earth.由于航天器和地面接收器之间的时间延迟,目前的地面导航系统技术受到了很大的容许。However, for certain type of pulsars, called millisecond pulsars, pulses of radiation occur with the regularity and precision of an atomic clock.但是用于被称作“毫秒脉冲射电源”的装置,脉冲电磁辐射可以具备和原子钟一样的规律性和精度。
As a result, in some scenarios, the pulsar X-ray can take less time to estimate a location. This leads to more precise measurements of a spacecrafts location.因此,在某些情况之下,X射线脉冲射电源可以用较少的时间来量度物体的方位。这就造成了对航天器方位的更加精确测量。However, since X-rays from pulsars are absorbed by the atmosphere, scientists must launch satellites to continue research of the new technology.然而,由于脉冲射电源收到的X射线需要被大气所吸取,所以科学家们必需发射卫星来对这一新技术之后展开研究。
According to Shuai Ping, chief scientist behind the research of XPNAV-1 satellite, the key aim of this satellite is to detect the details of X-ray signals of 26 nearby pulsars, and to create a pulsar navigation database.据XPNAV-1卫星研究项目首席科学家帅平回应,这颗卫星的主要目的是要检测地球附近26颗脉冲星的X射线信号详细信息,创建一个“脉冲导航系统数据库”。This target could be achieved within five to 10 years, Shuai estimates.据帅平估算,这一目标可以在5到10年之间已完成。
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