美国有线新闻 CNN 时隔9年 NASA联合SpaceX首次从美国本土发射宇航员

And the reason we're making this sound like a flight is because we're about to take flight with a report about a space launch that's scheduled for later this month.

我们之所以用这个听起来像是飞行的背景音，是因为我们要报道本月晚些时候的太空发射。

It will carry two astronauts to the International Space Station. That's been done many times before. What's different this time around is how they'll get there. They'll be launching from American soil for the first time since 2011. They'll be launching in a newly designed spacecraft for the first time since 1981. And they'll be launching aboard a SpaceX capsule for the first time ever.

这次发射计划将两名宇航员送入国际空间站。此前这类任务已经进行过多次。但这次，宇航员到达国际空间站的方式有所不同。这将是自2011年以来首次从美国本土发射。也是自1981年以来首次使用最新设计的航天器进行发射。这两名宇航员将首次搭乘SpaceX公司的太空舱发射升空。

SpaceX is a private company that has received billions of dollars from NASA. It's been able to carry out space missions much less expensively than the U.S. government's agency.

SpaceX是一家私营公司，获得了美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）提供的数十亿美元投资。该公司能够以远低于美国政府机构NASA的成本执行太空任务。

The SpaceX capsule is named the "Crew Dragon". And if everything goes according to schedule, May 27th will be the first time it carries people into orbit. Until 2011, the space shuttle was the vehicle NASA used to get people from A to beyond. It was a large winged ship attached to giant rocket boosters.

SpaceX的太空舱名为“龙飞船”。如果一切按计划进行，那5月27日将是“龙飞船”首次载人进入轨道的日期。在2011年之前，航天飞机是NASA用来将人们从某地送往其他地方的交通工具。那是一艘连接巨型火箭助推器的大型有翼飞船。

The "Crew Dragon" looks more like the Russian Soyuz capsule that's been used to launch NASA's astronauts since the space shuttle program shut down. According to space.com, NASA pays $86 million for every astronaut who launches aboard the Russian Soyuz. It'll cost around $55 million for each astronaut aboard the SpaceX "Crew Dragon".

“龙飞船”的外观和俄罗斯的“联盟号”飞船很像，自从航天飞机项目关闭后，NASA一直用“联盟号”飞船将宇航员送上太空。据space.com网站报道，NASA为每位搭乘“联盟号”飞船的宇航员支付8600万美元。而搭乘“龙飞船”的宇航员，每人需花费约5500万美元。