​英闻独家摘选:卷土重来 SpaceX星舰-超重型火箭Booster 9运往发射台

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Today, tomorrow, learn English naturally. 天天自然学英语


Gorgeous photos show SpaceX's next Starship Super Heavy booster on the launch pad

  SpaceX just rolled Booster 9, the latest iteration of its Starship Super Heavy vehicle, out to the launch pad at its Starbase facility in South Texas to gear up for a planned test flight.

  On Friday (July 21), SpaceX posted two photos on Twitter that capture the very end of that process.

   One of the photos shows the giant vehicle being lowered onto the orbital launch mount. Most of its 33 Raptor engines are visible, hit by upward-facing orange light that makes it look as if they're firing.

  Booster 9 is nestled atop the mount in the second shot, its Raptors hidden by the launch infrastructure. In both photos, the dark South Texas skies sparkle with hundreds of stars.

   Starship is SpaceX's next-generation transportation system, which the company is developing to get cargo and people to the moon, Mars and beyond. The vehicle consists of two fully reusable elements: Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper-stage spacecraft called Starship.

  A fully stacked Starship has flown just once to date, on an April 20 test flight that aimed to send the upper stage much of the way around Earth. (The desired outcome was a splashdown near Hawaii.) But the vehicle suffered several anomalies shortly after liftoff, and SpaceX sent a self-destruct command, which took effect four minutes into flight, when Starship was over the Gulf of Mexico.

  Booster 9 will be paired with the Ship 25 upper-stage prototype for the coming test flight, which will have similar aims as the first one. The test mission could launch as soon as this summer, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said, but that assumes no regulatory issues hold the liftoff up.

  And that's certainly not a given; a coalition of environmental groups is current suing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency didn't properly assess the damage that Starship could inflict on the South Texas ecosystem.

注释：

iteration: n

表示" 迭代；迭代法；循环"，means "(computer science) a single execution of a set of instructions that are to be repeated;"，如：At the end of each iteration, the customer decides if the task is complete or not.在每次迭代的终点，客户来决定这项任务是否完成。

gear: v

表示" 调整；使适应于"，means " adjust one thing to the working of another; make dependence on"，如：Education should be geared to the children's needs and abilities. 教育应适应儿童的需要和能力。

mount: n

表示"支架;底板"，means "sth for fixing sth in place"，如：There are standard mount points based on the FHS. 有被基于FHS的标准座点。The general had an excellent mount. 将军有出色的坐骑。

Raptor: n

表示" 猛禽；肉食鸟"，means "any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animal"，如：They want to know how the Raptor flies. 他们想知道猛禽是如何飞行的。

splashdown: n

表示" 在海中降落"，means "a landing of a spacecraft in the sea at the end of a space flight"，如：plashdown is scheduled for 0500 hours. 在海中降落时间定于5个小时。

anomaly: n

表示"异常；"，means "deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule"，如：A cat with no tail is an anomaly. 没尾巴的猫是一只畸形猫。

liftoff: n

表示"（火箭等）发射；起飞"，means "the initial ascent of a rocket from its launching pad"，如：Tragedy struck on what was to be a routine liftoff from Coruscant. 有一次，当他的货船在科洛桑像往常一样准备起飞时，悲剧发生了。

prototype: n

表示"原型；"，means " first or original example of sth that has been or will be copied or developed"，如：Designers have built a working prototype of the car.设计者已经制造了汽车的工作原型。

inflict: v

表示"使遭受；施以；"，means " cause to suffer; force sth on"，如：We inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy. 我们把敌军打得一败涂地。

中文简要说明：

  SpaceX最具野心的「星舰-超重型火箭」(Starship Super Heavy) 准备再次挑战无人射试射，最新版本 Booster 9缓慢的运到德州太空基地发射台，为再一次的试射做好准备。

  太空网(Space X)报导，目前公布的其中一张照片显示，这架壮观的巨型飞行器正被吊运到轨道发射架上，其下的33座猛禽发动机，在底座的橙色光照射下，看起来就像正在点火一样。

  星舰系统是SpaceX 的下一代火箭运输戴具，特别强调2个性能：其一是最大的载运量，可将货物和人员运送到月球、火星及其他地方。其二是完全可重复使用，上下级都是。星舰系统分成下级70公尺高的「超级重型火箭」，以及50公尺高的「星舰宇宙飞船」，结合总起来达到惊人的120公尺，是有史以来最大的太空火箭。

  4月20日，星舰超重型进行首次射试，原目的是环绕地球飞行一圈，然而火箭在升空后不久就出现了异常，决定取消后续任务，并在海上自毁。SpaceX没有完整说明失败原因，不过当天的实时影像就看到，33座发动机有7座没有点燃，也就达不到足够的推力。

  之所以引擎没有点燃，一种看法认为，由于马斯克没有料想到火箭发射的巨大压力与温度对地表的破坏，他并没有在发射台下挖掘导焰沟，使得火箭发动机被反冲的砂土、石砾给破坏。

   4月20日当天的火箭喷气，对发射台外围的设备都造成相当程度的损坏。这些问题都是SpaceX这一次试射所要解决的。

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