SpaceX準(zhǔn)備首次將宇航員送入太空

SpaceX準(zhǔn)備首次將宇航員送入太空

In the beginning, everyone was skeptical. But Elon Musk's SpaceX defied expectations—and on Wednesday hopes to make history by ferrying two NASA astronauts into space, the first crewed flight from US soil in nine long years.

一開始，所有人都持懷疑態(tài)度。但是伊隆·馬斯克的太空探索技術(shù)公司(SpaceX)卻出乎人們的意料。本周三，該公司將兩名美國國家航空航天局(NASA)的宇航員送入太空，希望創(chuàng)造歷史。這是九年來首次有宇航員從美國本土進(jìn)入太空。

US President Donald Trump will be among the spectators at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to witness the launch, which has been given the green lightdespite months of shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

美國總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普將與觀眾一起在佛羅里達(dá)州肯尼迪航天中心見證發(fā)射，盡管由于冠狀病毒大流行而關(guān)閉了數(shù)月，發(fā)射仍獲批。

The general public, in a nod to virus restrictions, has been told to watch via a livestream as Crew Dragon is launched by a Falcon 9 rocket toward the International Space Station.

由于受到病毒的限制，公眾被告知要通過直播觀看“乘龍?zhí)?rdquo;由獵鷹9號火箭發(fā)射到國際空間站。

NASA's Commercial Crew program, aimed at developing private spacecraft to transport American astronauts in to space, began under Barack Obama.

美國國家航空航天局的商業(yè)乘員計(jì)劃，旨在開發(fā)私人宇宙飛船運(yùn)送美國宇航員進(jìn)入太空，開始于巴拉克·奧巴馬時(shí)期。

But his successor sees it as a symbol of his strategy to reassert American domination of space.

但是他的繼任者認(rèn)為這是他的戰(zhàn)略的一個(gè)象征，以重申美國對太空的統(tǒng)治。

He has ordered NASA to return to the moon in 2024,which has given the storied space agency a boost.

他命令美國國家航空航天局在2024年重返月球，給這個(gè)著名的太空機(jī)構(gòu)帶來了助力。

In the 22 years since the first components of the ISS were launched, only spacecraft developed by NASA and by the Russian space agency have carried crews there.

在國際空間站第一批組件發(fā)射后的22年里，只有美國國家航空航天局和俄羅斯航天局開發(fā)的航天器將宇航員送到那里。

NASA used the illustrious shuttle program—huge, extremely complex, winged ships that carried dozens of astronauts into space for three decades.

美國國家航空航天局使用了杰出的航天飛機(jī)計(jì)劃——巨大的、極其復(fù)雜的、有翼的飛船，30年來將數(shù)十名宇航員送入太空。

But their staggering cost and two fatal accidents finally put an end to the program.

但是他們驚人的花費(fèi)和兩起致命的事故最終結(jié)束了這個(gè)計(jì)劃。

The last shuttle, Atlantis, landed on July 21, 2011.

最后一架航天飛機(jī)亞特蘭蒂斯號于2011年7月21日著陸。

After, NASA astronauts learned Russian and travelled to the ISS in the Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.

之后，美國國家航空航天局的宇航員學(xué)習(xí)了俄語，并乘坐俄羅斯聯(lián)盟號火箭從哈薩克斯坦前往國際空間站。

But it was only ever meant to be a temporary arrangement. NASA had entrusted two private companies—aviation giant Boeing and upstart SpaceX—with the task of designing and building capsules that would replace the shuttles.

但這只是暫時(shí)的安排。美國國家航空航天局已經(jīng)委托兩家私營公司，航空巨頭波音公司和新貴SpaceX公司，負(fù)責(zé)設(shè)計(jì)和制造可以取代航天飛機(jī)的太空艙。

'Success story'

“成功故事”

At 4:33 pm on Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to take off from Launch Pad 39A with the Crew Dragon capsule at its top.

周三下午4點(diǎn)33分，SpaceX公司的獵鷹9號火箭將從39A發(fā)射臺起飛，其頂部是乘龍?zhí)柼张摗?/p>

NASA has awarded SpaceX more than $3 billion in contracts since 2011 to build the spacecraft. The capsule will be crewed by Robert Behnken, 49, and Douglas Hurley, 53, both veteran space travelers.

自2011年以來，NASA已經(jīng)授予SpaceX公司超過30億美元的合同來建造航天器。太空艙將由49歲的羅伯特·貝恩肯和53歲的道格拉斯·赫利駕駛，他們都是經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的太空旅行者。

Nineteen hours later they will dock at the ISS, where two Russians and an American are waiting for them.

19個(gè)小時(shí)后，他們將在國際空間站?？?，兩名俄羅斯人和一名美國人正在那里等著他們。

The weather forecast remains unfavorable, with a 60 percent chance of bad conditions, according to Cape Canaveral forecasters.

據(jù)卡納維拉爾角氣象預(yù)報(bào)員說，天氣預(yù)報(bào)仍然不太好，有60%的可能出現(xiàn)惡劣天氣。

The next launch window is Saturday, May 30.

下一次發(fā)射時(shí)間是5月30日，星期六。

The launch has taken five years longer than planned to come about, but even with the delays SpaceX has beaten Boeing to the punch.

這次發(fā)射比原計(jì)劃多花了5年時(shí)間，但即使有延遲，SpaceX還是搶先了波音。

Boeing's test flight of its Starliner failed due to serious software issues, and will have to be redone.

由于嚴(yán)重的軟件問題，波音公司的Starliner試飛失敗，需要重新設(shè)計(jì)。

"It's been a real success story," Scott Hubbard, former director of NASA's Ames Center in Silicon Valley who now teaches at Stanford, told AFP.

“這是一個(gè)真正的成功故事，”斯科特·哈伯德告訴法新社，他曾任美國宇航局位于硅谷的艾姆斯中心主任，目前在斯坦福大學(xué)任教。