I'm a historian. Steve told us about the future of little technology; I'm going to show you some of the past of big technology. This was a project to build a 4,000-ton nuclear bomb-propelled spaceship and go to Saturn and Jupiter. This took place in my childhood, 1957-65. It was deeply classified. I'm going to show you some stuff that not only has not been declassified, but has now been reclassified.
我是一个历史学家。 史蒂夫讲了一些未来的小科技。 我要讲的是过去的大科技。 这就是,飞往土星和木星的4000吨级原子弹推进宇宙飞船。 这就是,飞往土星和木星的4000吨级原子弹推进宇宙飞船。 这还是我小时候的事儿呢 -- 大约1957年到1965年 这是高度机密。 我要讲的不仅没有解密, 而且还要再次保密。
(Laughter)
(笑)
If all goes well, next year I'll be back, and I'll have a lot more to show you, and if all doesn't go well, I'll be in jail, like Wen Ho Lee.
如果顺利的话,明年我再来讲更多的东西, 如果不顺利的话,估计我会像李文和一样被关起来了。(见李文和案) (笑)
(Laughter)
So, this ship was basically the size of the Marriott Hotel, a little taller and a little bigger. And one of the people who worked on it at the beginning was my father, Freeman, there in the middle. That's me and my sister, Esther, who's a frequent TEDster. I didn't like nuclear bomb-propelled spaceships. I mean, I thought it was a great idea, but I started building kayaks. So we had a few kayaks. Just so you know that I am not Dr. Strangelove.
飞船和万豪酒店差不多大, 稍高点,稍大点。 从一开始就参与其中的人 就是我爸,弗利曼 -- 照片中间那个人。(弗里曼·戴森 Freeman Dyson,美籍英裔数学物理学家) 这是我和我姐姐,Esther,TED的常客...(埃丝特·戴森,其个人净资产1999年统计为500亿美元) 我不喜欢原子弹推进宇宙飞船。 我是说我认为这是个好主意,所以我开始做皮艇。 我有几艘皮艇。 我当然不是奇爱博士。(见电影“奇爱博士“ Mein Führer, I can walk. :-) )
But all the time I was out there doing these strange kayak voyages in odd, beautiful parts of this planet, I always thought in the back of my mind about Project Orion, and how my father and his friends were going to build these big ships. They were actually going to go -- Ted Taylor, who led the project, was going to take his children. My father was not going to take his children, that was one of the reasons we sort of had a falling out for a few years.
不过每次驾驶这些奇怪的皮艇航行在地球上最美丽的地方, 不过每次驾驶这些奇怪的皮艇航行在地球上最美丽的地方, 我心里总是想着猎户座计划, 想着我爸和他的朋友打算如何建这些大号飞船。 他们真的打算星际旅行,而且确实计划去。 项目带头人,泰德·泰勒,打算带上他的孩子。 我爸没想带他的孩子去。 所以这也是有几年,我们之间有点了闹翻的原因。
(Laughter)
(笑)
The project began in '57 at General Atomics there, that's right on the coast at La Jolla. Look at that central building right in the middle of the picture. That's the 130-foot diameter library. That is exactly the size of the base of the spaceship. So put that library at the bottom of that ship -- that's how big the thing was going to be. It would take two or three thousand bombs. The people who worked on it were a lot of the Los Alamos people who had done the hydrogen bomb work. It was the first project funded by ARPA. That's the contract where ARPA gave the first million dollars to get this thing started. "Spaceship project officially begun. Job waiting for you. Dyson." That's July '58. Two days later, the space traveler's manifesto explaining why -- just like we heard yesterday -- why we need to go into space: "... trips to satellites of the outer planets. August 20, 1958."
计划开于1957年,在通用原子公司(General Atomic)。 就在著名的La Jolla(拉霍亚)海滩。 看照片中间这栋建筑。 直径40多米(130英尺)的图书馆。 这大概和那艘飞船的底座差不多大。 可以把飞船安放在图书馆上面 -- 这就是这艘飞船的大概尺寸。 需要用两三千枚核弹。 研究这个飞船的很多人是在Los Alamos搞氢弹的。 研究这个飞船的很多人是在Los Alamos搞氢弹的。 猎户座计划是ARPA(高级研究计划署)资助的第一个项目。 这是合同,ARPA(高级研究计划署)拿出的第一笔百万美元启动资金。 这是合同,ARPA(高级研究计划署)拿出的第一笔百万美元启动资金。 “飞船计划正式启动。 工作在等着你。 戴森” 这是在1958年7月。 两天后:这些太空游客的宣言说明了一切 -- 就像我们昨天听到的一样 -- 为什么要去太空? “前往带外行星的卫星旅行” -- 1958年8月20日。 这是旅行的目的地和停留地的统计表。
These are the statistics of what would be the good places to go and stop. Some of the sizes of the ships, ranging all the way up to ship mass of 8 million tons. So that was the outer extreme. Here was version two: 2,000 bombs. These are five-kiloton yield bombs, about the size of small Volkswagens; it would take 800 to get into orbit. Here we see a 10,000-ton ship will deliver 1,300 tons to Saturn and back -- essentially, a five-year trip. Possible departure dates: October 1960 to February 1967. These are trajectories going to Mars. All this was done by hand, with slide rules. The little Orion ship, and what it would take to do what Orion does with chemicals: you have a ship the size of the Empire State Building.
各种尺寸的飞船,最大达到8百万吨级。 各种尺寸的飞船,最大达到8百万吨级。 这是个极端。 这是版本二,两千个核弹。 核弹是5千吨当量炸弹,有小型大众汽车大小。 要入轨需要8百枚。 这是一万吨级飞船,将运送一千三百吨往来土星。 这是一万吨级飞船,将运送一千三百吨往来土星。 需要五年的旅程。 可能的启程日为:1960年10月到1967年2月。 这是到火星的轨线。 这些都是用计算尺手算的。 猎户座飞船如果用化学火箭推进的话需要多大,(图中火箭500米高) 猎户座飞船如果用化学火箭推进的话需要多大,(图中火箭500米高) 火箭大小和帝国大厦差不多。
NASA had no interest; they tried to kill the project. The people who supported it were the Air Force, which meant that it was all secret. And that's why when you get something declassified, that's what it looks like. Military weapon versions that carried hydrogen bombs that could destroy half the planet. There's another version there that sends retaliatory strikes at the Soviet Union. This is the really secret stuff: how to get directed energy explosions. So you're sending the energy of a nuclear explosion -- not like just a stick of dynamite, but you're directing it at the ship. And this is still a very active subject. It's quite dangerous, but I believe it's better to have dangerous things in the open than think you're going to keep them secret.
NASA不感兴趣,试图砍掉这个项目。 只有空军支持这个计划,这意味着整个计划都是秘密。 只有空军支持这个计划,这意味着整个计划都是秘密。 这就是解密的文件。 这就是解密的文件。 军事武器版,这个版本的飞船携带 氢弹,可以摧毁半个地球。 这是另一个版本,可以对苏联实施报复性打击 这是真正的秘密资料:如何实现定向爆炸, 这样不像普通炸药爆炸,核爆炸是定向到飞船的。 这样不像普通炸药爆炸,核爆炸是定向到飞船的。 这样不像普通炸药爆炸,核爆炸是定向到飞船的。 定向爆炸仍然是一个非常活跃的学科。 相当危险, 不过我想公开危险的东西比隐藏要好一些。 不过我想公开危险的东西比隐藏要好一些。
This is what happened at 600 microseconds. The Air Force started to build smaller models and actually started doing this. The guys in La Jolla said, "We've got to get started now." They built a high-explosive propelled model. These are stills from film footage that was saved by someone who was supposed to destroy it but didn't, and kept it in their basement for the last 40 years. So, these are three-pound charges of C4; that's about 10 times what the guy had in his shoes.
这是爆炸6百微秒后。 空军方面确实开始建造小版本飞船。 在La Jolla海滩的家伙说:“我们该启动了。” 他们造了一个高爆炸药推进模型。 这是从一些影片上截下来的图片。 这些影片早该销毁,却被某些人藏在地下室40年。 这些影片早该销毁,却被某些人藏在地下室40年。 这是3磅C4炸药。 装药量是那家伙装在鞋里的10倍。(可能指 旅游鞋炸弹)
(Laughter)
每个咖啡罐里有三磅C4炸药。
This is Ed Day putting -- So each of these coffee cans has three pounds of C4 in it. They're building a system that ejects these at quarter-second intervals. That's my dad in the sport coat there, holding the briefcase. So, they had a lot of fun doing this. But no children were allowed; my dad could tell me he was building a spaceship and going to go to Saturn, but he could not say anything more about it.
他们造了一个系统每四分之一秒弹出一个。 穿休闲装,拎着公文包的就是我爸。 可有意思了,不过他们不让小孩掺和。 我爸只告诉我,他在造宇宙飞船,准备去土星,没告诉其他的。 我爸只告诉我,他在造宇宙飞船,准备去土星,没告诉其他的。 我爸只告诉我,他在造宇宙飞船,准备去土星,没告诉其他的。
So all my life I have wanted to find this stuff out, and spent the last four years tracking these old guys down. These are stills from the video. Jeff Bezos kindly, yesterday, said he'll put this video up on the Amazon site -- some little clip of it.
所以我一直想搞明白, 花了四年时间追查这些老家伙。 这些也是视频截图。 昨天Jeff Bezos说他要把这些影片放到Amazon网站上。 昨天Jeff Bezos说他要把这些影片放到Amazon网站上。
(Applause)
非常感谢他。
So, thanks to him. They got quite serious about the engineering of this. The size of that mass, for us, is really large technology in a way we're never going to go back to. If you saw the 1959 -- this is what it would feel like in the passenger compartment; that's acceleration profile.
他们非常认真的设计飞船。 就飞船大小来说,这绝对是大科技。 我们永远不会再搞。 在1959年,这感觉就像旅客包厢。 这是加速度分布图。
(Laughter)
脉冲系统当量。
And pulse-system yield: we're looking at 20-kiloton yield for an effective thrust of 10 million newtons. Well, here we have a little problem, the radiation doses at the crew station: 700 rads per shot.
2万吨当量相当于一千万牛顿力。 这儿出了小问题:成员辐射剂量 每次700rad(拉德)。 这儿出了小问题:成员辐射剂量 每次700rad(拉德)。
(Laughter)
裂变产额:
Fission yields during development: they were hoping to get clean bombs; they didn't. Eyeburn: this is what happens to the people in Miami who are looking up.
他们想找到无污染炸弹,不过没有成功。 眼部灼伤 -- 迈阿密盯着看的人都倒霉了。
(Laughter)
座舱。注意,还不错。
Personnel compartment noise: that's not too bad; it's very low frequencies, it's basically like these sub-woofers. And now we have ground-hazard assessments when you have a blow-up on the pad. Finally, at the very end in 1964, NASA steps in and says, "OK, we'll support a feasibility study for a small version that could be launched with Saturn Vs in sections and pieced together."
噪音频率非常低,类似低音炮。 这是地面危害评估 发射台上爆炸。 最终,1964年底,NASA介入 “好吧,我们支持小版本的可行性研究,可以用土星五号火箭分段发射上去。“ “好吧,我们支持小版本的可行性研究,可以用土星五号火箭分段发射上去。“
So this is what NASA did, getting an eight-man version that would go to Mars. They liked it because the guys could kind of live there and be like, "It's like living in a submarine." This is crew compartment. It switches, so what's upside down is right side up when you go to artificial gravity mode. The scientists were still going to go along; they would take seven astronauts and seven scientists. This is a 20-man version for going to Jupiter: bunks, storm cellars, exercise room. You know, it was going to be a nice, long trip.
这是NASA设计的,八人火星旅行版。 这是NASA设计的,八人火星旅行版。 他们喜欢这个设计,因为乘员有点像生活在潜艇里。 他们喜欢这个设计,因为乘员有点像生活在潜艇里。 这是乘员舱。颠倒了这样可以顺利进入人工重力模式。 这是乘员舱。颠倒了这样可以顺利进入人工重力模式。 科学家还打算跟去, 准备搭载7个宇航员7个科学家。 这是20人木星旅行版。 双层铺位,防风地窖,运动室。 应该是不错的长途旅行。
The Air Force version: here we have a military version. This is the kind of stuff that's not been declassified, just that people managed to sneak home and after, you know, on their deathbed, basically, gave me that. The sort of artist conceptions. These are basically PowerPoint presentations given to the Air Force 40 years ago. Look at the little guys there outside the vehicle. And one part of NASA was interested in it, but the headquarters in NASA, they killed the project. So finally, at the end, we can see the thing followed its sort of design path right up to 1965, and then all those paths came to a halt.
空军版。军用版本 这些是没有解密的资料, 有人私藏回家的,然后临死前交给我的。 有人私藏回家的,然后临死前交给我的。 这是艺术家构想图 像Powerpoint幻灯片 40年前演示给空军看的。 注意这个小人,在飞船外。 NASA一部分人感兴趣,但是NASA总部砍掉了这个项目。 NASA一部分人感兴趣,但是NASA总部砍掉了这个项目。 最终 这是截止到1965年设计规划路径。 之后的就都中止了。
Results: none. This project is hereby terminated. So that's the end.
结果? 没有。 项目由此中止。 这就是结局。最后我要说的是,
All I can say in closing is: we heard yesterday that one of the 10 bad things that could happen to us is an asteroid with our name on it. And one of the bad things that could happen to NASA is if that asteroid shows up with our name on it nine months out, and everybody says, "Well, what are we going to do?" And Orion is really one of the only, if not the only, off-the-shelf technologies that could do something.
对我们来说10个坏消息之一是有一颗小行星以我们命名。 对我们来说10个坏消息之一是有一颗小行星以我们命名。 对NASA来说坏消息是 以我们名字命名的小行星9个月内撞到我们, 人们会说,“我们该怎么办呀?” 猎户座计划即使不是唯一的,也是现成的技术。 猎户座计划即使不是唯一的,也是现成的技术。
(Laughter)
So I'm going to tell you the good news and the bad news. The good news is that NASA has a small, secret contingency-plan division that is looking at this, trying to keep knowledge of Orion preserved in the event of such a misfortune. Maybe keep a few little bombs of plutonium on the side. That's the good news. The bad news is, when I got in contact with these people to try and get some documents from them, they went crazy because I had all this stuff that they don't have, and NASA purchased 1,759 pages of this stuff from me. So that's the state we're at; it's not very good.
所以我要告诉大家一个好消息和一个坏消息。 好消息是,NASA有一个秘密应急计划部门考虑这些, 好消息是,NASA有一个秘密应急计划部门考虑这些, 尽量保存猎户座计划的知识以应对灾难。 可能还保存了一些核弹也说不定。 这是好消息。坏消息是, 当我联系这些人要一些资料的时候 当我联系这些人要一些资料的时候 他们很郁闷,因为我的资料比他们还全。 NASA从我这里买走了1759页的资料。 这就是目前的状况。不太妙。
(Laughter)
(鼓掌)
(Applause)