By Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-02-12 04:31:11
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
关于球星与解决方案
在哈勃太空望远镜发射进入轨道仅仅两个月后，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）被迫发布了一项令人震惊的声明。经过数周的测试、沮丧和困惑，科学家们得出了一个铁证如山的结论：哈勃望远镜坏了，而且没人知道为什么。
可以理解的是，这对美国公众来说是一个巨大的打击。 这架望远镜早在 1946 年就已构思，自 60 年代末以来经历了一系列的开发和资金争夺战，并在整个 80 年代（以及 70 年代末的一部分）都在建造中。
它比最初提出的发射日期晚了七年，在那段时间里，挑战者号航天飞机遭遇了灾难性的发射失败，这动摇了普通美国民众对太空计划的信心，进而影响了对未来太空探索的信心。
如果说哈勃望远镜的发射受到了极大的关注，那都算是轻描淡写。来自深空的图像的前景；观测星云和广阔闪耀空间的可能性，激发了公民和科学家的想象力。
在新任美国总统的密切关注下，美国国家航空航天局的前景岌岌可危。因此，当传回的所有图像都显示出一种特定且显著的视觉扭曲（称为球面像差）时，相关人员感到恐慌是再自然不过的。
当我看到马刺队在对阵华盛顿奇才队的另一场势均力敌的比赛中，努力保持均势时，脑海中浮现的正是“恐慌”这个词。
自从PATFO（马刺管理层）引进速度奇才德埃隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)后的四场比赛中，马刺队表现得非常挣扎，而此时的球迷和NBA观众对马刺队的兴趣和投入程度达到了近一段时间以来的最高水平。
在将一位出色的年轻控球后卫与被称为奇才的维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)配对后，经过多年的摆烂和学习，人们的期望至少可以说是很高。
从一开始就渴望在YouTube上看到一连串的挡拆集锦的强烈希望和愿望，已经变成了日益增长的（和可以理解的）挫败感，因为马刺队打出了本赛季最糟糕的一些防守，并且在进攻端始终难以有效执行。
克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)不再是掌控球权的明确的第一选择，与福克斯分享后场位置让他显得有些多余，并且被认为是首发阵容中最薄弱的防守环节。
尽管圣安东尼奥最近签下了一位仍然高效的替补中锋俾斯麦·比永博(Bismack Biyombo)，但一直都很配合的杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)却比以往任何时候都更多地担任小球中锋——如果不是因为一个非常明显的事实，那就是这导致了两个阵容的防守和篮板下滑，那么这一举动可能会有一些耐人寻味之处。
虽然马刺队的球迷往往很有耐心，但还没有发展到恐慌的地步，但你可以清楚地听到每一场比赛中担忧情绪的累积。 维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)似乎一直受到持续的上呼吸道疾病的困扰，他还没有完全发挥出自己的水平，而且他与福克斯之间萌芽的联系也没有像一些人希望的那样立即表现出色。
你几乎可以看到圣安东尼奥的忠实拥趸们脑海中的齿轮在转动，他们在计算已经花费的资产和剩余的资产，担心错误的举动最终可能会让他们既失去总冠军，也失去具有划时代意义的球队基石球员。
科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard)事件的伤疤依然很深。
恐慌本身就是一种有趣的现象。 除了末日题材的电影和极端灾难的情况外，它是一种逐渐发展的过程，牵动着人们的思想，因为情况的现实逐渐变得更加明显。
它动摇了人们对自己和自己处理现实能力、对机构和安全场所的可靠性、对自己和他人的安全的信心，并最终引发情绪反应。 如果人们不特别小心，它就会蔓延开来。
然而，美国国家航空航天局的负责人无意让对哈勃望远镜的恐慌蔓延。在声明发布后的一周内，他们创建并召集了一支由调查人员、科学家和光学专家组成的详尽团队，他们很快得出结论，缺陷在于望远镜的主镜。
在研磨和抛光的过程中，镜子的外边缘变得过于平坦，这个错误比望远镜功能可接受的误差范围大了十倍。这是一个可能造成灾难性后果的错误。
政治和公众的强烈抗议达到了狂热的程度，公众对美国国家航空航天局的项目的看法恶化，甚至在反斗神鹰续集中与泰坦尼克号和兴登堡号的灾难相提并论。
但当国会关于资金的讨论在外部激烈进行时，美国国家航空航天局喷气推进实验室的广域和行星照相机团队正在努力寻找解决方案。
三年里，他们辛勤工作，几乎没有注意到反对者和关于摧毁望远镜或将其转换为其他用途（或只是放弃它）的各种讨论，并在 1993 年 12 月，宇航员安装了一个照相机替代品（WFPC2）和一个大约冰箱大小的校正透镜（COSTAR）。
事实证明，解决方案比激烈的争论和政治上的夸夸其谈所提供的解决方案要简单得多：美国国家航空航天局为哈勃望远镜制造了一副非常大、非常昂贵的眼镜。
从那以后，这架望远镜一直在全面运行，为美国人（以及全世界）带来了微弱发光星系和外部星座的激动人心的图像，这些图像早在人类登陆月球之前就向我们承诺过。
事实证明，视野取决于清晰度，有时清晰度取决于时间。
我想，仍然需要进行调整。 解决方案可能更像是一副眼镜，而不是彻底的重建，尽管在极度沮丧的时候，我们可能会渴望后者。
但只要有时间和改进，谁知道我们还有什么奇迹没有看到呢。
要点
- 德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)对我来说一直是个谜。 毫无疑问，他是阵容中最有天赋的纯射手之一（可以说是 最 有天赋的），但他也似乎最依赖于完美的游戏节奏。 在他开局缓慢的比赛中，他似乎很难在比赛过程中找到状态。 另一方面，他有从替补席上连续得分的习惯。 这从阵容构建的角度来看，是一个真正的难题，因为马刺队聘请瓦塞尔并不是让他当替补球员的，而且首发阵容非常需要他的投篮能力（当他在场上时，首发阵容看起来会好很多）。 可能是他在阵容中作为最佳射手的地位引起了更多的关注，至少在他们可以用一名球员来换取更好的远距离威胁之前是这样。 无论如何，我觉得自己像一个试图弄清楚的阴谋论者。 如果我只是讨厌那家伙，那就容易多了。
- 至于克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)作为首发球员的地位，随着福克斯一如既往的出色表现，以及斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)在替补席上大放异彩，情况肯定变得有点不舒服了。 我理解几乎可以肯定的是，已经做出了承诺，但我不明白为什么保罗不能通过花一些时间与替补阵容在一起，来获得他的上场时间。 他仍然可以被宣布为首发，并与该阵容一起上场，但他作为纯粹首发球员的时代即将结束，如果他能够优雅地接受这一点，并为了队友的利益而做出改变，那将是一件非常有利的事情。 没有人愿意温顺地走进那个良夜，但我们在某个时候都会被告知，我们不能再玩孩子们的游戏了。
演奏结束 – 今晚的主题曲：
Cage The Elephant 乐队的 Telescope
点击查看原文：What we learned from the Spurs win over the Wizards
What we learned from the Spurs win over the Wizards
On stars and solutions
Just two months after the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit, NASA was forced to make a stunning announcement. After weeks of testing, frustration, and confusion, scientists had reached an ironclad conclusion: the Hubble Telescope was broken, and no one knew why.
Understandably, this came as quite a shock to the American public. The telescope had been conceived of as early as 1946, had been involved in a number of development and funding battles since the late 60’s, and had spent the entirety of the 1980’s (and part of the late 70’s) being constructed.
It had missed its initial proposed launch date by seven years, and in that time the space shuttle Challenger had suffered a catastrophic launch failure, shaking the average American’s sense of confidence in the space program, and by proxy, the future of space exploration.
To say that Hubble’s launch was the subject of a great deal of attention would be understating the significance at the time. The prospect of pictures from deep space; the potential viewing of nebulae and vast glittering expanses had captured the imaginations of citizens and scientists alike.
Under the watchful eyes of a new U.S. president, NASA’s prospects hung in the balance. So when the images that started coming back all showcased a specific and significant visual distortion (known as spherical aberration), it would have been natural for those involved to panic.
And panic is exactly the word that came to mind as I watched the Spurs struggle to stay even in another close game against a bottom-dwelling team in the Washington Wizards.
In the last four games since PATFO’s acquisition of lightspeed merchant De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs have struggled mightily in front of a fanbase and NBA audience at their most interested and engaged in quite some time.
The expectations, after pairing an outstanding young point guard with the wunderkind known as Victor Wembanyama, have been lofty, to say the least, after years of tanking and learning.
The ardent hope and desire for a YouTube reel’s worth of pick-and-roll highlights from the get-go has turned to increased (and understandable) frustration, as the Spurs play some of their worst defense of the season, and struggle to consistently execute on the offensive end.
Chris Paul, no longer the clear first option for running the point, has been made slightly redundant in sharing the frontcourt with Fox, and has been picked on as the weakest defensive link in the starting rotation.
And the ever-accommodating Jeremy Sochan is seeing more time as a small-ball center than ever, in spite of San Antonio’s recent signing of a still-effective backup five in Bismack Biyombo — an act that would hold some intrigue if not for the very transparent fact that it’s led to defensive and rebounding slippage for both units.
It hasn’t turned to panic yet, as Spurs fans do tend to be a patient lot, but you can hear the concern building visibly with each game. Though he seems as if he’s been plagued by a prolonged upper respiratory illness, Wembanyama hasn’t quite been himself, and his budding connection with Fox hasn’t been as immediately superlative as some had hoped.
You can almost see the gears turning in the heads of the San Antonio faithful as they do the math on assets spent and assets left, concerned that the wrong move may eventually leave them without both titles and transcendent franchise player.
The scars of the Kawhi Leonard saga still run deep.
Panic is itself an interesting phenomenon. Outside of apocalyptic studio films and circumstances of extreme catastrophe, it’s the kind of thing that develops gradually, tugging at the edges of the mind, as the reality of the situation becomes steadily more apparent.
It shakes confidence in both the self and one’s ability to process reality, in the reliability of institutions and places of safety, in the safety of self and others, and eventually triggers emotional reactions. And if one is not terribly careful, it has a way of spreading.
The heads of NASA however, had no intention of letting a panic over the Hubble telescope spread. Within a week of the announcement they created and convened an exhaustive team of investigators, scientists, and optical specialists who very quickly came to the conclusion that the flaw was in the telescope’s primary mirror.
In the process of being ground and polished, the outer edge of the mirror had become far too flat, a mistake ten times larger than an acceptable margin for error for telescope functionality. It was an error that could have been catastrophic.
Political and public outcry reached a fever pitch, as public perception of NASA’s project deteriorated, even going so far as to be referenced alongside the disasters of the Titanic and the Hindenburg in a Naked Gun sequel.
But while congressional funding conversations raged outside, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were hard at work on a solution.
For three years they labored, paying little to no attention to naysayers and various conversations about destroying the telescope or converting it to other uses (or simply abandoning it), and in December of 1993 astronauts installed a camera replacement (WFPC2), and a corrective lens (COSTAR) that was roughly the size of a refrigerator.
The solution, as it turned out, had been much simpler than the solutions offered by heated arguments and political grandstanding: NASA had built the Hubble Telescope a very large, very expensive, pair of glasses.
The telescope has been in full operation ever since, bringing Americans (and the world) the stirring images of faintly glowing galaxies and outer constellations that we’d been promised all the way back before man had landed on the moon.
As it turns out, vision is dependent on clarity, and sometimes clarity is dependent on time.
There are, I assume, still adjustments to be made. And the solution may be more akin to a pair of glasses than wholesale reconstruction, though we may yearn for the latter in times of great frustration.
But with a little time and refinement, who knows what wonders we have yet to see.
Takeaways
- Devin Vassell is such a puzzle to me. He’s unquestionably one of the most talented pure shooters on the roster (arguably the most), and yet he also seems to be the most dependent on a perfect game rhythm. In games where he starts slowly, he seems to have real difficulty turning it on in the course of the contest. On the other hand, he has a habit of scoring in bunches coming off of the bench. It presents a real pickle from a roster-building perspective, because the Spurs aren’t paying Vassell to be a bench player per se, and his shooting is sorely needed in the starting unit (which looks so much better when he’s on). It’s possible that his status as the best shooter in the unit is drawing more attention, at least until they can swap out a player for a better long-distance threat. Regardless, I feel like a conspiracy theorist trying to figure it out. It would be a lot easier if I just hated the guy.
- As far as Chris Paul’s status as starter goes, things have got to be getting a bit uncomfortable with Fox being his usual excellent self, and Castle making hay when the sun shines on the bench unit. I understand that a promise was almost certainly made, but I don’t see why Paul couldn’t still get his minutes by also spending some of his time with the bench unit. He can still be announced as a starter, and play minutes with that unit, but the end of his time as a pure starter is nigh, and it would be huge boon if he could accept that with some grace and make the change himself for the betterment of his teammates. No one wants to go gently into that good night, but we’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game.
Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:
Telescope by Cage The Elephant
By Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock