Message to the Future

Message to the Future致未来的信息#

A message has been sealed inside LAGEOS in the event it should be retrieved from orbit or discovered after its return to Earth some 10 million years from now.

LAGEOS 卫星里封存着一份信息，以备它将来从轨道上被取回，或者在大约一千万年后落回地球时被人发现。

The message was prepared by Dr. Carl Sagan of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Two copies of the message, which is etched on stainless steel sheets measuring 10 by 18 cm (4 by 7 in.), are installed in the satellite – one at each end of the bolt connecting the two hemispheres which make up LAGEOS.

这份信息由纽约州伊萨卡康奈尔大学行星研究实验室的卡尔·萨根博士准备。信息蚀刻在两块 10 × 18 厘米（4 × 7 英寸）的不锈钢片上，装在卫星里——构成 LAGEOS 的两个半球由一根螺栓相连，两片各装在螺栓的一端。

In its upper center, the message displays the simplest counting scheme, binary arithmetic, which uses only zeros and ones. The numbers one through 10 in binary notation are shown. At the upper right is a schematic drawing of the Earth in orbit around the Sun, an arrow indicating the direction of motion. The arrowhead points to the right, the convention adopted for indicating the future. All arrows accompanying numbers are such "arrows of time." Under the Earth's orbit is the binary number one, denoting the period of time used on the plaque — one revolution of the Earth about the Sun, or one year.

信息的上方正中，展示了最简单的计数方法——只用 0 和 1 的二进制算术，写出了用二进制表示的 1 到 10。右上角是一幅示意图：地球绕着太阳运行，一支箭头标出运动的方向。箭头指向右边，这是用来表示“未来”的约定。所有与数字相伴的箭头，都是这样的“时间之箭”。地球轨道下面是二进制的数字 1，表示铭牌上所用的时间单位——地球绕太阳转一圈，也就是一年。

The remainder of the LAGEOS plaque consists of three maps of the Earth's surface, all in a common projection which permits the entire surface of our planet to be viewed at once. Beneath the first map is an arrowhead pointing left, denoting the past, and connected to a large binary number. In decimal notation, this number is equivalent to about 268 million years ago. The map shows the approximate configuration of the continents in the Permian period, about 225 million years ago. The binary number could have been made more accurate, but was "rounded off" to avoid giving the impression of spurious accuracy. Since detailed knowledge of continental drift is still very limited, all the continents are shown together in one mass, sometimes called "Pangaea."

铭牌其余的部分是三幅地球表面地图，都采用同一种投影，可以一眼看到我们这颗行星的整个表面。第一幅地图下面有一个指向左边、表示“过去”的箭头，连着一个很大的二进制数。换算成十进制，这个数约等于 2.68 亿年前。地图画出的是二叠纪时大陆的大致布局，约在 2.25 亿年前。这个二进制数本可以写得更精确，但特意做了“取整”，以免给人一种虚假的精确印象。由于人们对大陆漂移的细节所知仍然很有限，所有大陆被画成连在一起的一整块，有时称之为“盘古大陆”。

The middle map displays the present configuration of the continents. Below it is a symbol indicating zero years, and arrows denoting simultaneously the past and the future; that is, the present. This map represents the zero point in time for the other two maps. LAGEOS is shown being launched into space from the Western Test Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

中间的地图画出了大陆现在的布局。图下有一个表示“零年”的符号，以及同时指向过去和未来的箭头——也就是“现在”。这幅地图是另外两幅地图的时间零点。图上画着 LAGEOS 从加利福尼亚州范登堡空军基地的西部试验场发射升空。

LAGEOS will return to Earth at a time in the future more distant than the time in the past of the origin of the human species. The Earth will surely have changed profoundly by that future time and not only with respect to the disposition of its continents. Whoever is inhabiting Earth in that distant epoch may appreciate a little greeting card from the remote past.

LAGEOS 回到地球的那个未来，比人类物种起源的那个过去还要遥远。到那时，地球必定已经发生深刻的变化，不只是大陆的分布。在那个遥远的时代住在地球上的无论是谁，也许会喜欢这张来自远古的小小贺卡。