首次全女性太空行走取消

美國國家航空航天局宣布，原定于29日在國際空間站實施的太空行走由“女子雙打”改為“男女混雙”，航天史上首次全女性太空行走最終未能成行。背后的原因是其中一名女性宇航員發(fā)現(xiàn)她的艙外航天服硬殼內(nèi)衣不合身，中號更合適，但到29日僅有一件中號航天服可供使用，只能滿足一名女航天員出艙。

 

 

NASA astronaut Anne McClain assists fellow NASA astronauts Christina Koch (L) and Nick Hague as they verify their US spacesuits are sized correctly and fit properly ahead of a set of upcoming spacewalks at the International Space Station on March 18, 2019. Picture taken on March 18, 2019. Courtesy NASA

NASA’s plan to make a little space history with the first all-woman spacewalk has hit a snag: The right size spacesuit isn’t ready.

美國宇航局原本打算在太空史上邁出一小步，實施首次全女性太空行走任務，卻意外遇到了困難，原因竟是沒準備好合身的航天服。

snag[snæɡ]: n. 障礙;意外障礙

Astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were expected to continue the installation of new lithium-ion batteries for the International Space Station’s solar energy system on March 29. Work on the project began on March 22 when McClain and another astronaut, Nick Hague, spent almost seven hours working in free fall outside the station.

3月29日，宇航員安妮·麥克萊恩和克里斯蒂娜·科赫本來計劃繼續(xù)為國際空間站的太陽能系統(tǒng)安裝新的鋰離子電池。這項工程于3月22日開始，麥克萊恩和另外一名宇航員尼克·黑格在空間站外的微重力狀態(tài)下工作了近7個小時。

"McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso—essentially the shirt of the spacesuit—fits her best,” NASA said in a news release announcing that Hague and Koch would handle the next stage of the task instead. “Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it.”

美國宇航局在新聞發(fā)布會上宣布，下一階段的工作將由黑格和科赫完成。“麥克萊恩在第一次太空行走時發(fā)現(xiàn)，中號的硬殼內(nèi)衣更適合她。因為3月29日(周五)只有一件現(xiàn)成的中號內(nèi)衣，這件衣服將給科赫使用。”

The mission had originally planned for Koch, a former US Army aviator, to wear a large-size torso for her spacewalk with McClain, an aerospace engineer.

這次太空行走的任務原計劃由前美軍飛行員科赫穿著大號宇航內(nèi)衣和航空工程師麥克萊恩一起完成。

The ISS only has one medium-sized hard upper spacesuit torso prepared for extra-vehicular activity (EVA), with the other acting as a spare. A NASA spokesperson told Quartz the station has two large torsos and one extra-large torso ready, plus a spare extra-large torso. Neither of the spares can be configured in time for the EVA planned for four days from now.

國際空間站只有一件中號的宇航硬殼內(nèi)衣用于艙外活動，另外一件留著備用。美國宇航局的一名發(fā)言人告訴石英財經(jīng)網(wǎng)說，國際空間站有兩件大號和一件加大號的宇航內(nèi)衣，還有一件加大號的備用內(nèi)衣。這兩件備用內(nèi)衣都無法在四天內(nèi)重新調(diào)整好尺寸用于艙外活動。

configure[k?n'f?ɡj?]: vt. 安裝;使成形

"We do our best to anticipate the spacesuit sizes that each astronaut will need, based on the spacesuit size they wore in training on the ground, and in some cases astronauts train in multiple sizes,” NASA spokesperson Brandi Dean told Quartz in an email. "However, individuals’ sizing needs may change when they are on orbit, in response to the changes living in microgravity can bring about in a body. In addition, no one training environment can fully simulate performing a spacewalk in microgravity, and an individual may find that their sizing preferences change in space.”

美國宇航局的發(fā)言人布蘭迪·迪安在一封電郵中告訴石英財經(jīng)網(wǎng)說：“我們會基于宇航員在地面訓練時穿的太空服尺碼來盡力預估每位宇航員的太空服尺碼，某些情況下宇航員穿不同尺碼的太空服進行訓練。但是，宇航員位于軌道上時，對尺碼的需求可能會根據(jù)微重力條件下身體發(fā)生的變化而變化。此外，沒有哪個訓練環(huán)境能夠完全模擬出微重力條件下太空行走的狀態(tài)，宇航員可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己適合的尺碼在太空中發(fā)生了改變。”

Working in a spacesuit is one of the most physically demanding of an astronaut’s duties. Though they are in free-fall, moving their arms and hands inside the suit requires them to push against the pressurized internal atmosphere that keeps them alive and the protective gauntlet of the suit itself. A poorly-fitting suit would seem likely to add unnecessary difficulty to a risky activity. Already, astronauts working multi-hour shifts lose track of tools that drop off into space.

穿著太空服工作是對體力要求最高的宇航員職責之一。盡管他們處于微重力狀態(tài)下，在太空服內(nèi)活動胳膊和手需要承受維持生存的內(nèi)部氣壓和太空服金屬防護層的重量。不合身的太空服將可能給本就有風險的太空活動增加不必要的困難。過去就曾發(fā)生過宇航員在連續(xù)數(shù)小時工作后因體力不支而讓工具失手落入太空中。

The lack of spacesuit sizing options reflects the composition of NASA’s astronauts: The most recent class consisted of seven men and five women, but only 12 of the 38 currently active astronauts are women. Female astronauts have still been major participants in EVAs: Susan Helms shares the record for longest duration, spending nearly nine hours outside the airlock; Peggy Whitson has made 10 trips, for a cumulative 60-plus hours in free-fall.

宇航服尺碼選項缺乏反映出美國宇航局的人員結(jié)構(gòu)：最近(執(zhí)行任務)的一組宇航員是七名男性、五名女性，但是38名現(xiàn)役宇航員中只有12名是女性。不過，女性宇航員仍是艙外活動的主要參與者：蘇珊·海爾姆斯和另外一名男宇航員共同保持著艙外活動最長時間紀錄，在艙外度過近9個小時;佩吉·惠特森一共進行過10次艙外活動，在微重力狀態(tài)下累計度過了60多個小時。

An all-women spacewalk will have to wait, but McClain is scheduled to head out the airlock again on April 8 alongside Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

全女性太空行走還有待實現(xiàn)，但麥克萊恩已被安排在4月8日再次進行艙外活動，屆時她的搭檔將是加拿大宇航員戴維·圣雅克。