SpaceX Falcon Heavy Successfully Launches with 24 Satellites

SpaceX公司载有24颗人造卫星的猎鹰重型火箭成功发射

建安区三高 张志鹤

    American space company SpaceX has successfully launched its large Falcon Heavy rocket on a flight to deploy 24 satellites.

    美国太空探索技术公司SpaceX已经成功发射了其大型猎鹰重型火箭。此次发射将部署24颗人造卫星。

    The rocket lifted off early Tuesday morning from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon Heavy is considered the world’s most powerful operating rocket.

    该火箭于周二凌晨从弗罗里达州肯尼迪空间中心发射升空。猎鹰重型火箭被认为是世界上最强的运行火箭。

    It was the third successful flight of a Falcon Heavy rocket. The U.S. Department of Defense ordered the current mission. 

    这是猎鹰重型火箭第三次成功发射。美国国防部下令执行当前任务。

    The satellites will be used for experiments involving several U.S. government agencies, as well as some university projects.

    人造卫星将被用于几个美国政府机构和一些大学项目的实验研究。

    SpaceX chief Elon Musk said Tuesday’s mission was the company’s “toughest rocket launch ever.” It required four separate upper-stage engine firings. The satellites also needed to be placed in three different orbits. The process was expected to take about six hours.

    SpaceX的首席执行官伊隆·马斯克表示周二的任务是公司“有史以来最艰难的火箭发射任务。” 它要求上面级发动机要独立点火四次。人造卫星也需要被部署到三个不同的轨道中。这个过程预计要消耗六个小时。

    SpaceX uses reusable rockets to reduce the cost of space travel for its customers. These include government and military agencies, the U.S. space agency NASA and private companies.

    SpaceX使用了可重复使用的火箭来降低客户太空旅行的成本。客户包括政府和军事机构，美国太空机构NASA和一些私营公司。

    Several minutes after liftoff, the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned safely to Earth and landed at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The center booster was supposed to land on a special platform in the Atlantic Ocean, but did not reach its target.

    发射几分钟后，猎鹰重型火箭的助推器安全地返回地球并在弗罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地着陆。中央核心助推器本应在大西洋一块特殊的平台上着陆，但是并未到达目的地。

    SpaceX said the landing failure of the center booster was not unexpected because of the difficult nature of the mission. “It was a long shot,” SpaceX’s Musk said on Twitter. In addition to the satellites, the Falcon Heavy carried an atomic clock built by NASA, a solar sail project and even human ashes.

    SpaceX表示中央核心助推器着陆失败也在预料之中因为这次任务本质上就很艰难。“它是成功希望不大的一次尝试，”SpaceX的伊隆在Twitter上说。除了人造卫星之外，猎鹰重型火箭载着一个由NASA制造的原子钟、一艘太阳帆甚至还有人类骨灰。

    The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a technology experiment aimed at giving spacecraft self-flying abilities in the future.

    深空原子钟是一次技术试验旨在赋予未来的宇宙独自飞行的能力。

    The solar sail project was led by the U.S.-based Planetary Society. The goal of the group’s LightSail is to become the first orbiting spacecraft to be powered completely by sunlight. The head of the Planetary Society is scientist and television star Bill Nye, who praised SpaceX for its cooperation. “Hey @elonmusk, thanks for the ride!” he tweeted.

    太阳帆是美国行星协会发起的项目。 协会光帆号的目标是成为首个完全由阳光驱动的轨道太空船。行星协会的首领是科学家兼电视明星比尔·奈 。他因此次合作赞扬了SpaceX。“嘿！@elonmusk感谢你载它一程。”他在推特中写道。

    Among the human ashes on the flight were some belonging to astronaut Bill Pogue, who flew on NASA’s first space station, Skylab, in the 1970s. Pogue died in 2014.

    宇航员比尔·波格的骨灰在这次飞行携带的人类骨灰中。20世纪90年代，他在NASA首个太空站天空实验室（Skylab）上（在太空中）飞行。他于2014年逝世。

    The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in use today. Each first-stage booster has nine engines, for a total of 27 firing at the same time during liftoff. SpaceX says the rocket has the ability to lift nearly 64 metric tons into orbit. Only NASA’s Saturn V rocket, which took U.S. astronauts to the moon, had the ability to carry more into space.

    猎鹰重型火箭是现今运行火箭中运力最强的火箭。每个一级助推器具有八个发动机用于在发射过程同时点火27次。SpaceX表示这个火箭能够承载将近64公吨的物品进入轨道。只有NASA建造的土星5号火箭有能力承载更重的物品进入太空。土星5号火箭曾载着美国宇航员登上月球。