新疆地质人员被困无人区，是中国科技让他们迅速获救

10月11日晚上六点左右，从事地质勘探工作的寇超和同事3人因车辆故障被困且末县附近的昆仑山脉无人区， 而他们求救的方式成了人们热议的话题。

Around 6pm on Oct 11, the vehicle carrying Kou Chao and two of his colleagues, who were on a geological exploration mission, broke down in a remote area without cellular service in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Fortunately, they were soon found by a rescue team and taken to safety, and the way they asked for help has been widely discussed on social media.

据天山网报道，由于地处无人区没有手机信号无法与外界取得联系，当时情况紧急，寇超就尝试使用华为手机的北斗卫星消息功能发送带有经纬度坐标的求救信息给家人，家人收到信息后立即报警。

Because there was no cellular service to call for assistance during the emergency, Kou thought he could use a function on his Huawei cellphone that allows the user to send short messages via China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, Xinjiang news portal ts.cn reported.

He sent a message to his wife saying the crew was trapped and needed to be rescued. The message also included the latitude and longitude of his location. His wife immediately contacted the fire and rescue service.

接警后，消防救援人员立即赶往现场处置。19时04分，消防员到达报警人发送的坐标位置附近，利用导航系统进行搜寻。21时20分，消防员联合公安等救援力量到达指定位置，找到被困人员及车辆，并将他们成功带出。

Around 7:04 pm, the rescue team arrived near the location sent in the message and started to search. At 9:20 pm, the rescue team found the vehicle and trapped men who were eventually taken to safety.

这已经不是第一次有人因为北斗卫星消息功能而获救。2月17日，根据内蒙古区域媒体北疆新闻网的消息，户外摄影师许某和两位驴友在内蒙古赤峰境内的贡格尔草原采风时，忽遇大风雪天气，其中一位队友李某走失。

In fact, it’s not the first time that people’s lives were saved because of the short messages service of BDS. According to imline.cn, a news portal in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, a hiker also used the service to call for help after being separated from his friends during a snowstorm in February.

A photographer surnamed Xu was on a grassland hiking trip with two friends, including a man surnamed Li. Suddenly, the group was hit by a snowstorm and Li became separated from the others.

由于李某当时所处位置偏僻，没有地面网络信号，他急中生智，依靠华为手机自带的北斗卫星消息功能，发送坐标信息给其队友，成功联系到队友并获救。

Li found himself in a remote area with no cellular service, so he decided to use his Huawei cellphone to send his location via BDS’ short messages service.

After receiving Li’s message saying “I am lost. Need help”, Xu successfully tracked Li down using the location coordinates included in the message.

这个被网友称为“一生用一次，一次续一生”的救命功能于2022年9月在华为Mate50系列首发，成为了行业中首个实现将卫星通信引入大众智能手机的手机厂商。但第一代技术只能单项发短信。而在今年，华为再次革新支持双向通信,实现“有来有回”，并成功应用于华为P60系列。

Huawei started enabling the satellite-supported text message function on its cellphones in September 2022 when it released its Mate 50 series. Earlier this year, it announced that its P60 series phones can enable satellite-supported two-way text message conversations and make satellite calls. The feature is a milestone in tapping into expensive satellite technology for the mass consumer market.

该功能能让用户在无网络环境下通过华为畅连APP实现双向北斗卫星消息的收发。一旦人们在户外探险、远距离旅行等情况下需要紧急救援，就可以及时发送位置信息或求救信息得到援助。据华为官网，目前北斗卫星消息仅限中国大陆地区发售的设备使用，使用地理范围仅限中国大陆地区。

With the Huawei app, users can send and receive messages without cellular service, which can be a lifesaving feature when they encounter dangers in extreme conditions. Currently, the service is only available in the Chinese mainland.

中国卫星导航系统管理办公室主任、北斗卫星导航系统新闻发言人冉承其去年11月就介绍，北斗系统可以提供短报文通信服务。它以芯片的模式进入到手机里，只需10块钱的成本，即可做到不换卡、不换号、不增加外设，在没有手机信号的时候依然可以发送短信，和外界连线。

Ran Chengqi, director general of the China Satellite Navigation Office and BDS spokesperson, said last November that cellphones can send short messages through BDS without changing SIM cards or using extra equipment, by simply adding a chip that costs 10 yuan ($1.37).

“大家可能觉得这个功能平时感觉不到，但是如果万一没有手机信号，你的手机还有这个能力，什么感觉？你可能永远都不用，但是因为有北斗，你就有安全感。”冉承其说。

“You may think that this function might hardly be used in daily life. However, I often say while you may never use the function, it will provide a sense of security if you can always connect with the outside world or be seen online,” Ren said.

记者：崔佳