On March 2, SpaceX plans to launch its first test of an unmanned Dragon vehicle which is designed to carry humans into low Earth orbit and to the International Space Station. If the test is successful, later this year, SpaceX plans to launch American astronauts from United States soil for the first time since 2011.

3月2日，SpaceX計劃首次發(fā)射無人駕駛的“龍”號運載火箭，該運載火箭的設(shè)計目標是將人類送入近地軌道和國際空間站。如果測試成功，今年晚些時候，SpaceX計劃自2011年以來首次在美國本土發(fā)射美國宇航員。

While a major milestone for a private company, SpaceX’s most significant achievement has been in lowering the launch costs that have limited many space activities. While making several modifications to the fuel and engines, SpaceX’s major breakthroughs have come through recovering and reusing as much of the rocket and launch vehicle as possible.

作為一家私營公司的一個重要里程碑，SpaceX的最重要成就是降低了限制了許多太空活動的發(fā)射成本。在對燃料和發(fā)動機進行多次改裝的同時，SpaceX的主要突破在于盡可能多地回收和再利用火箭和運載火箭。

Between 1970 and 2000, the cost to launch a kilogram to space remained fairly steady, with an average of US$18,500 per kilogram. When the space shuttle was in operation, it could launch a payload of 27,500 kilograms for $1.5 billion, or $54,500 per kilogram. For a SpaceX Falcon 9, the rocket used to access the ISS, the cost is just $2,720 per kilogram

從1970年到2000年，發(fā)射一公斤到太空的成本保持相當穩(wěn)定，平均每公斤18500美元。當航天飛機運行時，它可以以15億美元，即每公斤54500美元的價格發(fā)射27500公斤的有效載荷。對于用于進入國際空間站的太空獵鷹9號火箭來說，成本僅為每公斤2720美元。

SpaceX has since focused on recovering key parts of the Falcon 9 to enhance reusability and reduce costs. This includes the Falcon 9’s first stage which, once it expends its fuel, falls back through the atmosphere reaching speeds of 5,200 miles per hour before reigniting its engines to land on a drone recovery ship.

此后，SpaceX專注于回收獵鷹9號的關(guān)鍵部件，以提高可重用性并降低成本。這包括獵鷹9號的第一階段，一旦耗盡燃料，它會以5200英里每小時的速度返回大氣層，然后重新點燃引擎，降落在一艘無人駕駛回收船上。

In 2018 alone, SpaceX made 21 successful launches. The new Falcon Heavy rocket – a more powerful version of the Falcon 9 – launched in February. This rocket can lift 63,800 kilograms, equivalent to more than 27 Asian elephants, to low Earth orbit and 16,800 kilograms to Mars for just $90 million. The test payload was Musk’s own red Tesla Roadster, with a mannequin named Starman in the driver’s seat.

僅在2018年，SpaceX就成功發(fā)射了21次。新的獵鷹重型火箭——獵鷹9號的一個更強大的版本——在二月份發(fā)射。這枚火箭能將63,800公斤(相當于27頭亞洲象)送入近地軌道，16800公斤(相當于1.68萬公斤)送入火星，成本僅為9,000萬美元。測試的有效載荷是馬斯克自己的紅色特斯拉跑車，駕駛員座位上有一個名叫斯塔曼的人體模型。

In addition to the crewed Dragon tests this year, SpaceX is continuing development of its Starship, which will be designed to travel through the solar system and carry up to 100 passengers sometime in the 2020s. Musk has also suggested that the Starship could serve as the foundation for a lunar base.

除了今年的載人“龍”飛船試驗外，SpaceX還在繼續(xù)開發(fā)其星際飛船，這艘飛船將在2020年代的某個時候穿越太陽系，搭載多達100名乘客。馬斯克還建議，星際飛船可以作為月球基地的基礎(chǔ)。

Impact on space exploration

對太空探索的影響

In addition to substantially affecting human spaceflight, SpaceX has also launched payloads for countries including Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and, most recently, Israel. On Feb. 21, 2019, a Falcon 9 launched a privately built Israeli lunar lander which, if successful, will be the first privately built lunar probe.

除了對載人航天產(chǎn)生重大影響外，SpaceX還為哈薩克斯坦、孟加拉國、印度尼西亞和最近的以色列等國發(fā)射了有效載荷。2019年2月21日，獵鷹9號發(fā)射了一個以色列私人制造的月球著陸器，如果成功，這將是第一個私人建造的月球探測器。

Overall, SpaceX has significantly reduced the barriers to space, making it more accessible and democratizing who participates in space-based commerce and exploration.

總的來說，SpaceX大大降低了進入太空的障礙，使太空更容易進入，并使參與太空商業(yè)和探索的人更民主。

Challenges ahead

挑戰(zhàn)

Despite SpaceX’s successes, it faces significant challenges. Earlier this year, SpaceX laid off 10 percent of its workforce to reduce costs. NASA remains suspicious of some of the launch procedures SpaceX plans to use, including the fueling of the rocket with astronauts on board, which was linked to an explosion of a Falcon 9 on the launchpad. The Department of Defense’s inspector general has also announced an investigation into how the Air Force certified the Falcon 9, though it is not clear what initiated the probe.

盡管SpaceX取得了成功，但它也面臨著重大挑戰(zhàn)。今年早些時候，SpaceX為了降低成本解雇了10%的員工。美國宇航局仍然對SpaceX計劃使用的一些發(fā)射程序持懷疑態(tài)度，包括搭載宇航員為火箭加油，這與發(fā)射臺上的獵鷹9號火箭爆炸有關(guān)。美國國防部監(jiān)察長也宣布對美國空軍如何認證獵鷹9號展開調(diào)查，不過目前還不清楚是什么原因引發(fā)了調(diào)查。

Musk, regardless of his personal missteps, and SpaceX have aggressively pushed technological boundaries that have changed minds, my own included, about the potential of private companies to provide safe and reliable access to space.

馬斯克不顧個人的失誤，而SpaceX積極推進技術(shù)邊界，改變了包括我在內(nèi)的許多人對私營企業(yè)提供安全可靠的太空通道的潛力的看法。

評論翻譯

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處


Jose Cronero
Yes, Elon is a little out there, but all incredibly gifted and talented people are outliers. Whether he succeeds or fails, he has clearly demonstrated that the now commercial area of lower orbit can be serviced by industry rather than government.
There are great opportunities for Australia in this area, particularly with our new space agency. We need big funding, big dreams and bigger leadership. This will not come from our politicians.Ok….back to the republic debate…..

是的，馬斯克有點與眾不同，但所有極具天賦的人都是出類拔萃的。無論他成功與否，他已經(jīng)清楚地表明，現(xiàn)在的低軌道商業(yè)區(qū)域可以由工業(yè)而不是政府來服務(wù)。
澳大利亞在這方面有很大的機會，特別是與我們新的空間機構(gòu)合作。我們需要大筆資金、宏偉的夢想和更強大的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力。這不會來自我們的政客。好的....讓我們回到共和黨辯論…

Jerzy Zbyslaw
Regarding “SpaceX’s major breakthroughs have come through recovering and reusing as much of the rocket and launch vehicle as possible.”
except from what I’ve seen from a photo with about half a dozen boosters in storage they have only used them once or twice and this re-usability will only be proven once each booster gets a large number of launches and its not going to look too good if the payload of astronauts doesn’t get to orbit whereas losing a $200M satellite is no big deal as its usually insured.

關(guān)于“SpaceX的重大突破來自盡可能多地回收和再利用火箭和運載火箭?！?br/>除了我從一張儲存了大約六個助推器的照片中看到的情況外，他們只使用過一次或兩次助推器，而且這種可重復(fù)使用性只有在每個助推器獲得大量發(fā)射后才能得到證明，如果宇航員的有效載荷不能進入軌道，那么它看起來不會太好。而失去一顆2億美元的衛(wèi)星并不是什么大不了的事情，因為它通常是有保險的。

Even though Elon has stated that for some launches the cost of propellant is only $200K there’s no escaping “The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation” unless he can demonstrate re-usability to a high degree and at the moment that’s not the case.

盡管埃隆曾表示，對于一些發(fā)射來說，推進劑的成本只有20萬美元，但除非他能在高水平上證明可重用性，否則就無法逃脫“火箭方程式的暴政”，而目前情況并非如此。

Dave Wright
logged in via Google
SpaceX were the first to land a rocket that had sent a payload into orbit. Carmack’s rocket only went to 2000 feet. And yeah, Blue Origin landed a rocket successfully before SpaceX, but Blue Origin’s rocket merely left the atmosphere - it didn’t reach orbit, which would have required it to go about ten times faster. Reusing orbit-cabable rockets by landing them vertically under their own power has now been proven.

SpaceX是第一個將有效載荷送入軌道的火箭著陸的人。卡馬克的火箭只飛到了2000英尺。是的，藍色起源號在宇宙X之前成功地著陸了一枚火箭，但是藍色起源號的火箭僅僅離開了大氣層——它沒有到達軌道，這需要它以大約十倍的速度飛行。利用軌道可攜帶火箭在自己的動力下垂直著陸，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)得到證明。

Just last week Europe’s Arianne program announced its plan to take the same aporoach. No doubt other state-level space programs will look at doing the same. SpaceX’s potential cost savings are not just down to potential reuse - they use some more cost effective manufacturing processes over traditional rockets. The cost of the fuel is less than 1% of a traditional rocket launch.

就在上周，歐洲的阿麗亞娜項目宣布了同樣的發(fā)射計劃。毫無疑問，其他國家級的太空項目也會考慮這么做。SpaceX的潛在成本節(jié)約不僅僅在于潛在的再利用——與傳統(tǒng)火箭相比，它們使用了一些成本更低的制造工藝。這種燃料的成本不到傳統(tǒng)火箭發(fā)射的1%。