SpaceX的飛船原型在測(cè)試中爆炸

SpaceX的飛船原型在測(cè)試中爆炸

A cryogenic pressure test resulted in an explosion of a SpaceX Starship prototype in Texas on Wednesday. The blast produced a huge cloud of vapor that continued to pour out of the vehicle for several minutes. The unfortunate incident was caught on camera by enthusiasts who were filming the Starship test vehicle from afar.

周三，美國(guó)太空探索技術(shù)公司(SpaceX)的一艘飛船原型在德克薩斯州進(jìn)行了低溫壓力測(cè)試，結(jié)果發(fā)生爆炸。爆炸產(chǎn)生了巨大的蒸汽云，持續(xù)從車內(nèi)涌出達(dá)幾分鐘之久。這一不幸的事件被從遠(yuǎn)處拍攝星際飛船測(cè)試車的愛好者們拍了下來(lái)。

Starship is perhaps SpaceX’s most exciting project to date. The company envisions versions of the Starship vehicle being sent to other worlds, including Mars, but first, it has to get off the ground. The prototype that blew its top was slated to begin short test flights soon, but the timeline will now have to be pushed back a bit.

“星際飛船”可能是SpaceX迄今為止最令人興奮的項(xiàng)目。該公司設(shè)想將星際飛船送往其他星球，包括火星，但首先，它必須離開地面。爆炸的原型機(jī)原本計(jì)劃很快進(jìn)行短期試飛，但現(xiàn)在不得不推遲一點(diǎn)時(shí)間。

SpaceX hasn’t said much about the blast, issuing a brief statement indicating that the company knew it might happen:

SpaceX沒有對(duì)爆炸做太多說(shuō)明，只是發(fā)表了一份簡(jiǎn)短聲明，表明該公司知道可能會(huì)發(fā)生爆炸:

“The purpose of today’s test was to pressurise systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected.”

“今天測(cè)試的目的是最大限度地給系統(tǒng)加壓，所以結(jié)果并不完全出人意料。”

Boss Elon Musk went a step further in reply to some tweets on Twitter. In response to a tweet about the explosion, Musk seemed to indicate that the MK1 prototype that suffered the failure would be retired in favor of a newer model.

老板埃隆·馬斯克在回復(fù)推特上的一些推文時(shí)更進(jìn)一步。在回應(yīng)一條關(guān)于爆炸的推文時(shí)，馬斯克似乎表示，遭受了故障的MK1原型機(jī)將退役，代之以更新的型號(hào)。

This might seem like a black eye for SpaceX, but space is hard and failures in testing help ensure that the final product is as reliable as possible. SpaceX, in particular, has never been shy about its failures and seems to relish in the experimentation and iteration that comes with building high-tech spacecraft. The company even went so far as to release a blooper reel, poking fun at itself over the many dramatic failures of the Falcon 9 development process.

這對(duì)SpaceX來(lái)說(shuō)可能是一個(gè)沉重打擊，但太空探索是艱難的，測(cè)試的失敗有助于確保最終產(chǎn)品盡可能可靠。特別是SpaceX，它從不羞于承認(rèn)自己的失敗，似乎很享受制造高科技航天器的實(shí)驗(yàn)和迭代。該公司甚至發(fā)布了一個(gè)花絮卷軸，拿獵鷹9號(hào)開發(fā)過(guò)程中的許多戲劇性失敗來(lái)自嘲。

Today, Falcon 9 is SpaceX’s bread and butter, delivering satellites into orbit for clients around the world. Its recent track record has been excellent and while the Starship program is experiencing similar growing pains right now, there’s no reason to think the company won’t get everything ironed out in due time.

如今，獵鷹9號(hào)是SpaceX的主要收入來(lái)源，為世界各地的客戶將衛(wèi)星送入軌道。該公司最近的業(yè)績(jī)一直很好，雖然星際飛船項(xiàng)目目前也在經(jīng)歷類似的成長(zhǎng)煩惱，但沒有理由認(rèn)為該公司不會(huì)在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)候解決所有問(wèn)題。