SpaceX开启了美国太空飞行的新篇章

SpaceX开启了美国太空飞行的新篇章

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，作为重新点火和降低太空探索成本的手段，伊隆·马斯克上周末观看了他的SpaceX公司成功向国际空间站(ISS)发射首枚载人航天飞船。

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."

“对我和SpaceX的每个人来说，这都是一个梦想成真的时刻，”马斯克在5月27日火箭第一次发射前对记者说。“我没想到会发生这样的事。2002年创办SpaceX公司时，我真的不认为这一天会发生。我预计有90%的可能性，我们甚至不能用更小的火箭进入近地轨道。”

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任务是自2011年美国国家航空航天局取消航天飞机计划以来，在美国本土进行的首次载人航天飞行，也是首次由商业供应商运营的航天飞机。周日早上，美国宇航局的两名宇航员鲍勃·本肯和道格·赫尔利成功地将“龙”号太空舱与国际空间站对接。

Welcome competition

欢迎竞争

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.

虽然在贝恩肯和赫尔利安全返回家园之前，这项任务不会被认为是完全成功的，但是载人航天飞行重返美国预示着未来几个月和几年的重大转变。最直接的影响是什么?俄罗斯对宇航员进入太空的垄断结束了。

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年以来，NASA一直在购买俄罗斯联盟号宇宙飞船(Soyuz)的座位，以便将宇航员送往国际空间站。虽然每个座椅最初的起价约为2100万美元，但据报道，2020年秋季发射时，它们的价格已经涨到了9000万美元。相比之下，根据美国国家航空航天局(NASA)总检察长的说法，SpaceX太空探索技术公司的每个座位的飞行成本约为5500万美元。

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.

随着波音公司在其可重复使用的宇航员太空舱“Starliner”上取得进展，很明显，进入太空的成本将比以往任何时候都更具竞争力。

Space tourism gains traction

太空旅游获得动力

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.

除了向宇航员提供服务外，SpaceX的乘员之龙还将扩大对公民的服务——也就是说，如果你碰巧是一个有钱的公民的话。据“Business Insider”报道，美国宇航局只计划在每次飞行中一次预订4个座位。由于“龙”号可以舒适地坐七个人，这就为那些有兴趣亲自参观最后的边疆的人留下了额外的门票。

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，国际空间站宣布将允许美国公民访问国际空间站30天，费用为每晚3.5万美元。不包括SpaceX的发射成本，这是一个真正的世界之外的价格标签的假期。尽管如此，我们知道至少有一个普通人可能会先来拜访:汤姆·克鲁斯。今年5月初，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)透露，他们正在与这位《碟中谍》的主演合作，在国际空间站上拍摄太空电影。

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还与太空探险公司合作，后者曾帮助普通公民搭乘俄罗斯的联盟号宇宙飞船前往国际空间站，将于2021年底/ 2022年初送四名游客绕地球旅行。与Axiom太空公司类似的项目计划在2021年年底进行，届时将有4名游客前往国际空间站进行为期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公司总裁兼首席运营官Gwynne Shotwell在一份声明中说:“这一历史性的任务将为所有梦想太空飞行的人开辟一条道路。”