波音公司的“星際飛船”太空艙未能抵達(dá)空間站

波音公司的“星際飛船”太空艙未能抵達(dá)空間站

Boeing's new Starliner capsule, on its maiden uncrewed flight to the International Space Station, has failed to attain its proper orbit after a flawless liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the company says.

波音公司表示，波音公司新的“星際飛船”太空艙在飛往國際空間站的首次無人飛行中，在從佛羅里達(dá)州的卡納維拉爾角完美無缺地發(fā)射后，未能到達(dá)正確的軌道。

Boeing says the capsule, which is carrying 600 pounds of cargo as a dress rehearsal for a possible mission with astronauts next year, has reached a stable orbit, but not at the correct altitude to dock with the station.

波音公司表示，太空艙載有600磅貨物，作為明年可能與宇航員一起執(zhí)行任務(wù)的彩排，已經(jīng)到達(dá)穩(wěn)定的軌道，但沒有處于與空間站對接的正確高度。

About 30 minutes after liftoff, the capsule's onboard clock malfunctioned, causing the spacecraft's computer to fire its engines incorrectly. The unplanned maneuver used too much fuel, preventing the Starliner from rendezvousing with the station.

升空約30分鐘后，太空艙的座鐘出現(xiàn)故障，導(dǎo)致飛船的計算機(jī)無法正確地啟動引擎。這一計劃外的操作消耗了太多的燃料，使星際飛船無法與空間站會合。

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that had astronauts been on board Friday's Starliner flight, they would have been safe and could have taken control of the vehicle.

美國國家航空航天局局長吉姆·布里登斯汀表示，如果宇航員在周五的“星際飛船”上，他們將是安全的，可以控制飛船。

"In fact, had they been in there, we very well may be orbiting, or docking with the space station tomorrow had they been in the spacecraft," he said.

他說:“事實(shí)上，如果他們在那里，我們很可能明天就進(jìn)入軌道，或者與空間站對接，如果他們在宇宙飛船里的話。”

"We trained extensively for this type of contingency and had we been on board there, there could have been actions that we could have taken," said NASA astronaut Nicole Mann. She's slated to fly on the first crewed Starliner mission next year.

美國國家航空航天局宇航員尼科爾·曼恩說:“我們?yōu)檫@類緊急情況進(jìn)行了大量訓(xùn)練，如果我們在那里，我們就可以采取行動。”明年她將執(zhí)行首次載人星際飛船任務(wù)。

"That's why you have test pilots on board, especially for these early missions," she said. "We are looking forward to flying on Starliner. We don't have any safety concerns.

“這就是為什么會有試飛員在飛機(jī)上，尤其是在這些早期任務(wù)中，”她說。“我們期待乘坐星際飛船。我們沒有任何安全上的顧慮。

The test is part of NASA's $6.8 billion Commercial Crew program to launch humans from the U.S. and end a nearly decadelong reliance on the Russian space agency for rides to the station. Currently, NASA astronauts hitch a ride on Soyuz capsules.

這次試驗是美國宇航局耗資68億美元的商業(yè)載人航天計劃的一部分，該計劃旨在將美國宇航員送入太空，結(jié)束近10年來美國宇航員依賴俄羅斯航天局運(yùn)送宇航員到國際空間站的局面。目前，美國宇航局宇航員搭乘聯(lián)盟號太空艙。

Boeing is going head-to-head with SpaceX, which conducted a successful docking of its Dragon capsule with the station in March. SpaceX could send astronauts on Dragon as soon as the spring.

波音公司將與太空探索技術(shù)公司展開正面交鋒。太空探索技術(shù)公司今年3月成功地將“龍”號太空艙與空間站對接。太空探索技術(shù)公司最早可能在今年春天將宇航員送上“龍”號太空艙。

Friday's launch of Starliner also comes as Boeing's public image has been battered by the fatal crash of two of its 737 Max jetliners last year and the subsequent global grounding of the aircraft type.

上周五推出星際飛船之際，波音的公眾形象也因去年兩架波音737 Max客機(jī)的致命墜毀以及隨后該機(jī)型的全球停飛而受損。

Whether Boeing or SpaceX, when NASA does launch humans from U.S. soil sometime next year, it will be the first time since the last Space Shuttle mission in 2011.

無論是波音公司還是太空探索技術(shù)公司，美國國家航空航天局明年某個時候?qū)⑷祟悘拿绹就涟l(fā)射升空，這將是自2011年最后一次航天飛機(jī)任務(wù)以來的首次。

"We're doing it in a way that's never been done before," Bridenstine said. "This time when we go, we're going to go with commercial partners. NASA is not purchasing, owning and operating the hardware. We're buying the service."

布里登斯汀說:“我們正在以一種前所未有的方式來做這件事。”“這一次，我們將與商業(yè)伙伴合作。美國國家航空航天局并不購買、擁有和操作硬件。我們正在購買這項服務(wù)。”

It's a lot like calling an Uber to space. NASA is paying for rides to the station, relying on two commercial vehicles — SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner.

這很像把優(yōu)步叫上太空。美國國家航空和宇宙航行局將支付前往空間站的費(fèi)用，主要依靠太空探索技術(shù)公司的“龍”號和波音的星際飛船兩種商用運(yùn)載工具。

Both companies have responded to the technical challenges. SpaceX has been continuously testing its parachutes. It also says it found the root cause of an explosion earlier this year related to its abort engines. It will test that system next month by firing the abort motors midflight after launching a test capsule on its Falcon 9 rocket.

兩家公司都對技術(shù)挑戰(zhàn)做出了回應(yīng)。太空探索技術(shù)公司一直在測試它的降落傘。該公司還表示，今年早些時候發(fā)現(xiàn)了與中止引擎有關(guān)的爆炸根源。下個月，該公司將在發(fā)射獵鷹9號火箭的測試艙后，在飛行途中啟動中止發(fā)動機(jī)，對該系統(tǒng)進(jìn)行測試。

Boeing completed a test of its abort system last month and called the mission a success. But one of the capsule's parachutes failed to open before touchdown. Boeing said despite the failed chute, if a crew was on board they would land safely. At a news conference this week, Boeing said it identified the cause of the failure and has fixed the issue.

波音公司上個月完成了其中止系統(tǒng)的測試，稱這次任務(wù)是成功的。但是其中一個降落傘在著陸前未能打開。波音公司表示，盡管滑道發(fā)生了故障，但如果機(jī)上有機(jī)組人員，他們將安全著陸。在本周的新聞發(fā)布會上，波音公司表示已經(jīng)查明了故障原因，并已經(jīng)解決了這個問題。