第1802期:SpaceX Rocket Launches in Test Flight,Explodes Later

A SpaceX rocket successfully launched with the company’s Starship spacecraft Thursday, but the two-part system exploded minutes later and crashed into the sea. It was the first test flight for SpaceX’s latest Super Heavy rocket, which carries a large space capsule on top, called Starship. The capsule is designed to one day carry astronauts and supplies to the moon and possibly Mars. No astronauts were on board for the test flight. The liftoff happened Thursday morning at a SpaceX launch center in the southern Texas town of Boca Chica. SpaceX officials have described the two-part rocket ship – which stands 120 meters high – as the largest and most powerful space vehicle ever built. The vehicle is by far more powerful than any rockets built by the American space agency NASA.

周四，一枚 SpaceX 火箭与该公司的星际飞船一起成功发射，但这个由两部分组成的系统在几分钟后爆炸并坠入海中。这是 SpaceX 最新的超重型火箭的首次试飞，该火箭顶部装有一个名为“星际飞船”的大型太空舱。该太空舱旨在有一天将宇航员和物资运送到月球甚至火星。这次试飞没有宇航员登机。升空发生在星期四早上，地点是德克萨斯州南部小镇博卡奇卡的 SpaceX 发射中心。 SpaceX 的官员将这艘由两部分组成的火箭飞船——高 120 米——描述为有史以来最大、最强大的太空飞行器。该飞行器比美国航天局 NASA 制造的任何火箭都要强大得多。

The flight plan had called for the Super Heavy to separate from Starship minutes after the launch. But instead, the rocket began to tumble and then exploded four minutes into the flight. The combined vehicle then fell into the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft reached an altitude of nearly 32 kilometers before exploding. The Super Heavy rocket is designed to be reusable. But for the test flight, no landings of the rocket or spacecraft were planned. Images appeared to show that several of the 33 main engines were not firing as the rocket climbed from the launch site. There was no immediate comment from SpaceX on any engine failures. SpaceX had hoped that, after separating, the spacecraft would continue flying and attempt to circle the world before crashing into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

飞行计划要求 Super Heavy 在发射后几分钟与 Starship 分离。但相反，火箭开始翻滚，然后在飞行四分钟后爆炸。组合车随后坠入大西洋的墨西哥湾。飞船在爆炸前到达了近 32 公里的高度。超重型火箭被设计为可重复使用。但是对于试飞，没有计划火箭或航天器的着陆。图像似乎显示，当火箭从发射场爬升时，33 个主发动机中有几个没有点火。 SpaceX 没有就任何引擎故障立即发表评论。 SpaceX 曾希望，航天器在分离后能够继续飞行并尝试绕地球一圈，然后坠入夏威夷附近的太平洋。

Even though the vehicle exploded soon after launching, SpaceX officials on the ground celebrated the fact that the rocket was able to get off the ground. The company declared the event a successful test flight. John Insprucker is one of the leaders of SpaceX’s engineering team. He said during a live webcast of the launch that the test flight would provide a wealth of important data as the company prepares for additional flight tests. Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of SpaceX, said on Twitter the next Starship test launch would be "in a few months." He tweeted: "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch…"

尽管运载火箭在发射后不久就爆炸了，但 SpaceX 的地面官员还是为火箭能够离开地面而庆祝。该公司宣布此次活动试飞成功。 John Insprucker 是 SpaceX 工程团队的领导者之一。他在发射现场网络直播中表示，随着公司准备进行额外的飞行测试，试飞将提供大量重要数据。 SpaceX 创始人兼首席执行官埃隆马斯克在推特上表示，下一次星际飞船试射将在“几个月后”进行。他在推特上写道：“祝贺@SpaceX 团队完成了激动人心的星际飞船试射！为下一次试射学到了很多……”

Musk, who bought Twitter last year for $44 billion, also heads electric carmaker Tesla. In the weeks leading up to the flight, Musk predicted a 50-50 chance that the spacecraft would reach orbit. But he had also said he was “guaranteeing excitement” for the launch. SpaceX’s Insprucker told webcast watchers after the launch, “You never know exactly what’s going to happen." He then added, “But as we promised, excitement is guaranteed and Starship gave us a rather spectacular end.”

去年以 440 亿美元收购 Twitter 的马斯克同时也是电动汽车制造商特斯拉的负责人。在飞行前几周，马斯克预测航天器进入轨道的几率为 50-50。但他也曾表示，他“保证对发射感到兴奋”。 SpaceX 的 Insprucker 在发射后告诉网络直播观察者，“你永远不知道会发生什么。”然后他补充说，“但正如我们所承诺的，兴奋是有保证的，星际飞船给了我们一个相当壮观的结局。”