SpaceX開啟了美國太空飛行的新篇章

SpaceX開啟了美國太空飛行的新篇章

A little over 18 years since he first came up with the idea of building his own rockets as a means to both reignite and lower the cost of space exploration, Elon Musk watched this weekend as his company SpaceX successfully launched its first manned spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).

18年前，他第一次提出建造自己的火箭，作為重新點火和降低太空探索成本的手段，伊隆·馬斯克上周末觀看了他的SpaceX公司成功向國際空間站(ISS)發(fā)射首枚載人航天飛船。

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft attached takes off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle / Staff/Getty Images)

"This is a dream come true for me and for everyone at SpaceX," Musk told reporters before the first launch attempt on May 27, which was scrubbed due to weather. "This is not something I thought would actually happen. When starting SpaceX in 2002, I really did not think this day would occur. I expected a 90% chance that we would fail to even get to low-Earth orbit with a smaller rocket."

“對我和SpaceX的每個人來說，這都是一個夢想成真的時刻，”馬斯克在5月27日火箭第一次發(fā)射前對記者說。“我沒想到會發(fā)生這樣的事。2002年創(chuàng)辦SpaceX公司時，我真的不認(rèn)為這一天會發(fā)生。我預(yù)計有90%的可能性，我們甚至不能用更小的火箭進(jìn)入近地軌道。”

The SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the first manned spaceflight launched from American soil since NASA retired the Shuttle program in 2011, is also the first ever operated by a commercial provider. The two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, went on to successfully dock the Crew Dragon capsule with the ISS on Sunday morning.

SpaceX公司的Demo-2任務(wù)是自2011年美國國家航空航天局取消航天飛機(jī)計劃以來，在美國本土進(jìn)行的首次載人航天飛行，也是首次由商業(yè)供應(yīng)商運營的航天飛機(jī)。周日早上，美國宇航局的兩名宇航員鮑勃·本肯和道格·赫爾利成功地將“龍”號太空艙與國際空間站對接。

Welcome competition

歡迎競爭

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is designed to carry people and cargo to orbiting destinations such as space stations, is displayed at the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles in July 2019. (Photo: MARK RALSTON/Contributor/Getty Images)

While the mission won't be deemed a complete success until Behnken and Hurley are safely home, the return of manned spaceflight to America signals some big shifts in the months and years ahead. One of the most immediate impacts? Russia's monopoly on astronaut access to space is over.

雖然在貝恩肯和赫爾利安全返回家園之前，這項任務(wù)不會被認(rèn)為是完全成功的，但是載人航天飛行重返美國預(yù)示著未來幾個月和幾年的重大轉(zhuǎn)變。最直接的影響是什么?俄羅斯對宇航員進(jìn)入太空的壟斷結(jié)束了。

Since 2011, NASA has been purchasing seats aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to the ISS. While seats initially started out at around $21 million each, they've since ballooned to a reported $90 million for a fall 2020 launch. In comparison, according to NASA's inspector general, the per-seat cost of SpaceX flights is around $55 million.

自2011年以來，NASA一直在購買俄羅斯聯(lián)盟號宇宙飛船(Soyuz)的座位，以便將宇航員送往國際空間站。雖然每個座椅最初的起價約為2100萬美元，但據(jù)報道，2020年秋季發(fā)射時，它們的價格已經(jīng)漲到了9000萬美元。相比之下，根據(jù)美國國家航空航天局(NASA)總檢察長的說法，SpaceX太空探索技術(shù)公司的每個座位的飛行成本約為5500萬美元。

With Boeing making progress on its own reusable crew capsule called Starliner, it's clear that access to space will become more cost-competitive than ever before.

隨著波音公司在其可重復(fù)使用的宇航員太空艙“Starliner”上取得進(jìn)展，很明顯，進(jìn)入太空的成本將比以往任何時候都更具競爭力。

Space tourism gains traction

太空旅游獲得動力

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the SAOCOM 1A and ITASAT 1 satellites in October 2018 near Santa Barbara, California. (Photo: David McNew/Stringer/Getty Images)

Beyond providing access to astronauts, SpaceX's Crew Dragon is also on the verge of widening access to citizens — that is, if you happen to be a citizen with some deep pockets. According to Business Insider, NASA only plans to book four seats at a time on each spaceflight. With Dragon capable of comfortably seating seven, this leaves extra tickets for those interested in visiting the final frontier themselves.

除了向宇航員提供服務(wù)外，SpaceX的乘員之龍還將擴(kuò)大對公民的服務(wù)——也就是說，如果你碰巧是一個有錢的公民的話。據(jù)“Business Insider”報道，美國宇航局只計劃在每次飛行中一次預(yù)訂4個座位。由于“龍”號可以舒適地坐七個人，這就為那些有興趣親自參觀最后的邊疆的人留下了額外的門票。

In June 2019, the space agency announced it would allow U.S. citizens to visit the ISS for up to 30 days at a cost of $35,000 per night. Not counting SpaceX's launch costs, that's a vacation with a truly out-of-this-world price tag. Nonetheless, we know of at least one private citizen who's likely to visit first: Tom Cruise. In early May, NASA dropped that they were working with the "Mission: Impossible" star to film a movie in space on the ISS.

2019年6月，國際空間站宣布將允許美國公民訪問國際空間站30天，費用為每晚3.5萬美元。不包括SpaceX的發(fā)射成本，這是一個真正的世界之外的價格標(biāo)簽的假期。盡管如此，我們知道至少有一個普通人可能會先來拜訪:湯姆·克魯斯。今年5月初，美國國家航空航天局(NASA)透露，他們正在與這位《碟中諜》的主演合作，在國際空間站上拍攝太空電影。

SpaceX has also partnered with Space Adventures, a company that has previously helped private citizens take trips to the ISS aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, to send four tourists on a trip around the Earth in late 2021/early 2022. A similar venture with Axiom Space is planned for late 2021 that will see four tourists embark on a 10-day trip to the ISS.

SpaceX還與太空探險公司合作，后者曾幫助普通公民搭乘俄羅斯的聯(lián)盟號宇宙飛船前往國際空間站，將于2021年底/ 2022年初送四名游客繞地球旅行。與Axiom太空公司類似的項目計劃在2021年年底進(jìn)行，屆時將有4名游客前往國際空間站進(jìn)行為期10天的旅行。

"This historic mission will forge a path to making spaceflight possible for all people who dream of it," said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer at SpaceX, in a statement.

SpaceX公司總裁兼首席運營官Gwynne Shotwell在一份聲明中說:“這一歷史性的任務(wù)將為所有夢想太空飛行的人開辟一條道路。”