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But a little known Apollo project
但是一个鲜为人知的阿波罗计划
has blown that cosy theory away.
却粉碎了这个看似无懈可击的理论
Deep in the wilds of West Texas,
在西德州的荒野中
Jerry Wiant coaxes his elderly motorbike up
杰瑞怀恩特骑着老爷车
to the top of the Davies Mountains.
飙上大卫斯山脉的山顶
He and his trusty bike have made this same journey
从阿波罗计划开始后
to work every night since the Apollo programme.
他每晚都骑这段路上班
He is on his way to the Texas Laser Ranging station.
他在德州雷射测距站工作
This small outpost is one of only three of its kind in the world.
这个小小的前哨站是全球三座雷射测距站之一
We're the last living Apollo project.
我们是阿波罗计划硕果仅存的部分
Many people think that Apollo project, oh,
很多人都以为阿波罗计划
they, they're dead and gone.
已经寿终正寝
That's not true.
其实不是这样
We're still getting viable data,
我们仍持续取得重要数据
scientists all over the earth are still using that data,
世界各地的科学家，也都还在使用我们的数据
so we're still operating,
虽然已经没有人记得
in spite of the fact that everybody's forgotten
阿波罗计划是干嘛的
what the word Apollo er used to mean.
我们却还在运作
Each clear night Wiant focuses his telescope on the lunar surface
每逢夜空晴朗时怀恩特就会将望远镜对准月球表面
and fires a powerful laser straight at the moon.
并发射一道强力雷射光
This will measure the exact position of the moon in space.
他用这种方法测量月球在太空中的确切位置
Alright we're ready to fire the laser.
我们要发射雷射光了
So what we hope is that our beam goes from here to the moon surface
我们希望发出的雷射光束抵达月球表面后
and it comes back and er our goal is to measure
再反射回来，我们要测量的是
how long does it take for our light to go
雷射光往返月球
from here to the moon and back.
所需的时间
Their target is a simple device placed on the moon over 35 years ago.
他们的目标是35年前被放在月球上的简单装置
The Apollo astronauts left behind some simple glass reflectors,
阿波罗太空人在月球上放了一些构造简单的玻璃反射器
rather likethe reflectors on a bicycle light.
有点像自行车灯用的反射器
This is a chunk of glass,
这块玻璃
that's a corner reflector and you can see it's,
是个角形反射器
it's, it's 3 sides, and this'll be the front side.
它有三个面，这是正面
So light entering here will go directly
若由正面进入的光线
back to it's source and then our,
会直接反射回其源头
our telescope gathers that light and then er feeds it to our detector.
我们的望远镜会收集这些光线，并输入我们的侦测器
There are 4 panels of reflectors
月球上有四个
on the moon placed at 4 different sites.
分置于不同地点的反射板
This one I'm holding in my hand is, is one.
这就是其中之一
And, you can, you can see there's a row of ten by ten.
这是一个十乘十的反射板
This is a panel of 100 of these individual corners,
也就是上面装了一百个角形反射器
look at the footprint, you can see the,
你们看这些脚印
the astronaut's footprint in the moon's surface here.
这是太空人留在月球表面的脚印
This is Apollo 14 site.
这是阿波罗14号的
The second site.
第二个作业点
And if, and if you, I don't know if you, you can see it,
我不晓得各位看不看得到
but there's a, there's a,a er, a bag, a ziplock,
但这边有个夹链袋
there's a ziplock bag right here, you can see the red seam.
你们可以看到红色的封口处
Er, the astronauts were not
当时并没有要太空人
required to er pick up their litter.
捡垃圾的规定
So there's a free ziplock bag if anybody would like to have it.
如果想要拿免费的夹链袋，倒是可以参考一下
If the moon's orbit was fixed,
若月球轨道是固定的
then its distance from the earth should have stayed
那么自杰瑞展开测量作业之后
the same ever since Gerry began his measurements.
两者间的距离应该没有改变
But it hasn't.
但事实不然
The moon, it seems, is on the move.
看来月球正在移动
The moon is receding at a certain rate per year.
月球正在逐年退后
3.8 cms per year I believe that it's,
它正以每年3.8公分的速率
it's moving out, moving away, receding.
向外移动
It doesn't sound like much.
听起来没什么大不了
But over time it's going to bring some big changes.
但长时间下来会造成重大改变
