PBS高端访谈:SpaceX发射载人龙飞船

Hari Sreenivasan: Just before 3 a.m. today a SpaceX rocket carrying a capsule known as Crew Dragon lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule is designed for astronauts, but on this mission it's carrying only a so-called "smart dummy¹" named Ripley, designed to gather data about how the flight might affect human occupants. The Crew Dragon is now in orbit and will attempt to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow. If successful, it could mean NASA will use privately² built spacecraft for future missions as soon as this summer. Joining us now from New Orleans, where she has been monitoring Crew Dragon, is Loren Grush, senior science reporter for The Verge³. Why is this such a big deal?

Loren Grush: You know since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 NASA has only really had one option for getting its astronauts to the International Space Station. And that has been the Russian Soyuz rocket and it's not been a great arrangement because it's expensive it costs NASA eighty one million dollars per seat to get just one astronaut to the International Space Station and it's limiting the only have that one option. So if this was worth it to go out of commission then we wouldn't have a way to get our astronauts into space. But with the commercial crew program is about bringing the human spaceflight program back to America. These capsules are built by U.S. companies and when they launch people that will be the first time since the space shuttle program that NASA astronauts have launched from American soil on American made the animals once again.

Hari Sreenivasan: When we saw this rocket lift off it was kind of a throwback. I mean these capsules look like the capsules that we saw in the early parts of the space program. They were kind of designed to do one thing versus⁴ a space shuttle which was designed to do lots of things when it comes to how to build a capsule.

Loren Grush: When it comes to how to build a capsule there is really a good design for how to launch a space and then how to bring it back again. So you know the capsule design is kind of dictated⁵ by you know the best way to get to and from the International Space Station. But yes it is quite reminiscent of the early capsules that we used to build.

Hari Sreenivasan: But is there a longer term vision here. If this goes well and again this is the big if. I mean this is just part one. So let me talk about that a little bit. Getting into space wasn't the hard part. There are a couple of kind of intricate maneuvers⁷ that have to happen. Usually the space station reaches out and grabs whatever is coming to it. But this is supposed to happen automatically?

Loren Grush: Right. So a big difference between this capsule and the Dragon cargo⁸ capsules that SpaceX has been sending to the International Space Station since 2010 those are bursts to the ISS which means that yes a robotic arm operated by a crew member grabs the capsule and then brings it on to the space station where it is then attached. But these capsules automatically docks with a series of lasers and sensors⁹ to find the a docking port on the outside in the International Space Station. And then it just automatically moves toward it and then attaches on its own. And that's something that SpaceX has never demonstrated before. So if they can pull off that maneuver⁶ which is slated¹⁰ for tomorrow then that's going to be a very big deal because that's going to be how they bring astronauts to the International Space Station in the future.

Hari Sreenivasan: And then finally it's going to have to hang out there for about a week and then splash down the old fashioned way in the middle of the ocean on Friday, right?

Loren Grush: Right. It's not going to stay for very long just a few days but the three crew members on board the International Space Station right now, they'll go inside the capsule now bring out some cargo that it brought up with it. Also packed it with cargo. They're going to run some tests to see how it's faring in the space environment. Now is it sturdy. Is it doing what it's designed to do. And then on Friday morning after all is said and done it will end up slowly and then reenters atmosphere and then a series of parachutes will deploy¹¹ to slow the capsule descent to the earth and it will splash down in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. If all goes well.

Hari Sreenivasan: Alright, Loren Grush of The Verge, joining us via Skype. Thanks so much.

Loren Grush: Thanks for having me.

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：今天凌晨3点前，太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）的一艘火箭携带着载人版龙飞船从加州的肯尼迪航天中心升空。载人版龙飞船是为宇航员设计的，但在这次任务中，它只携带了一个所谓的“智能人体模型”，名作里普利。里普利的设计是为了收集数据，了解此次飞行对人类的影响。载人版龙飞船现在正在轨道运行，并将试图与国际空间站于明天对接。如果对接成功，就可能意味着美国宇航局将通过自己建造的航天器用于未来的任务，早的话，可能今年夏天就能投入使用。我台记者高级科学领域The Verge的记者洛伦一直在新奥尔良密切关注载人版龙飞船的消息，下面我们将与他连线，了解一下这件事的重要性。

洛伦：自从2011年航天飞机项目结束后，美国宇航局将宇航员送往国际空间站就只剩下了一个选择。这个选择就是采用俄罗斯的联盟号火箭，但这并不是一个绝好的选择。因为联盟号价格昂贵，一个座位就需要美国宇航局耗资100万美元才能将1名宇航员送往国际空间站，这个唯一的选择很有局限性。所以，就算值得，但一旦经费耗尽，我们也没法将宇航员送入太空。但商业宇航员项目是要将载人航天项目带回美国。这些太空舱是由美国的公司所建造，一旦载人升空，就将会是航天飞机项目后首次将宇航员从美国国土送往太空。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：我们看到火箭升空的瞬间就仿佛回到了过去。因为这些太空舱看起来很像是之前太空项目的太空舱。今天的太空舱，其设计的初衷是做一件事，而以前的航天飞机是要做很多件事。

洛伦：在提到如何建造太空舱的问题时，美国宇航局可以很好地设计出可以往返的太空舱。所以，太空舱的设计是往返于国际空间站的最优解。但是太空舱的设计肯定会让我们回忆起以前建造的太空舱。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：但这里是否有更为长期的愿景呢？现阶段的设计是否只是并非全貌呢？这里我想说的是，进入太空并非最难的部分。有一些复杂的事情一定会发生，一般情况下，空间站会吸收一切离它近的物体。但这一切是否是自动发生的呢？

洛伦：我来解释一下，这个太空舱和SpaceX在2010年后向国际空间站发送的载人版龙飞船之间有一个巨大的区别，即对于国际空间站的区别。也就是说：宇航员操纵的机械臂会抓住太空舱，然后将它带到与它绑定的国际空间站。但这些太空舱会自动与一系列激光和传感器对接，从而发现国际空间站外的对接口。然后，它会自动向它移动，并进行绑定。这是SpaceX此前从未做过的。如果他们明天能实现这个操作，就会有重大的意义，因为未来他们就可以用这个方法将宇航员送往国际空间站。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：最后，它要在那里待大概一周的时间，然后摒弃以前的旧方法。

洛伦：它不会逗留很久，只会待几天，但这3名宇航员现在正在国际空间站，他们会进入太空舱，带出一些所携带的物品。然后再装满物品。他们会进行一些测试，来看看在太空环境中物体的情况。现在稳了，他们所做的都在计划中。周五早上，他们会结束任务，重新进入大气层，一系列降落伞会让他们缓慢着陆在地球上，并进入加州海岸附近的大西洋，这是理想的情况。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：好的，非常感谢洛伦通过Skype加入我们。

洛伦：感谢与我连线。

1 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

5 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

7 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

10 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

11 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。