美国有线新闻 CNN 马斯克将小说《银河帝国》送上了猎鹰号

SpaceX is about to make the ground seriously crumble¹. The new rocket, the Falcon² Heavy, is about to launch for the first time and this thing is big. It’s lifting from the historic Kennedy Center launch pad 39A, which is where Apollo 11 launched humans to the moon, and once again, the pad will be the site of space flight history.

太空探索技术公司(SpaceX)即将会让大地为之颤抖。新火箭“猎鹰号”将首次发射，这是一件大事。它从历史上著名的肯尼迪中心39A发射台升空，那里是阿波罗11号将人类送入月球的地方，再一次，发射台将成为太空飞行历史的地点。

Once Falcon Heavy has lift off, SpaceX says it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.

一旦“猎鹰重型”升空，SpaceX公司表示，这将是世界上最强大的作战火箭，其威力将是目前的两倍。

The rocket is powered by 27 engines and SpaceX says when all engines are at full throttle³, the rocket has 5 million pounds of thrust, which is the equivalent of 18 747s. The going cost for a launch, according to the company, $90 million. But that’s just a fraction of what a launch would cost with the SLS, the heavy lift rocket that the government has been working on for years.

火箭由27个引擎提供动力。SpaceX称，当所有引擎都处于全速运转时，火箭的推力为500万磅，相当于18747s。据该公司称，目前的发射成本为9000万美元。但这只是政府多年来一直致力于的重型运载火箭发射成本的一小部分。

Now, the Falcon Heavy is basically three of the company’s Falcon IX rockets, which they’ve been launching since 2010, strapped⁴ together.

现在，“猎鹰重型”基本上是该公司的“猎鹰9号”(Falcon IX)火箭中的三枚，他们自2010年以来就一直把它们一起发射。

Originally, the company had thought that putting together three of these tried and true rockets would be relatively⁵ easy rocket science, but it turns out it was much more complicated than Elon Musk⁶ and his team had anticipated, and the launch has been delayed for several years. And even though the rocket is expected to finally take flight, Musk himself acknowledges that this first test launch has a high likelihood of failure.

：最初，该公司认为，将三枚试验过的、真正的火箭组装在一起，相对来说是一项简单的火箭科学，但事实证明，这比埃隆?马斯克(Elon Musk)和他的团队所预期的要复杂得多，而且发射被推迟了好几年。尽管火箭预计将最终升空，但马斯克本人也承认，第一次试飞失败的可能性很大。

So, when you’re launching the rocket that everybody has been waiting years for and has a good shot of just blowing up -- well, if you’re Musk, master of PR, you go big and you launch your own car. Yet, the rocket’s payload will be Musk’s own cherry red Tesla roadster and it will be playing David Bowie’s "Space Oddity" on repeat.

所以，你发射火箭的时刻每个人都已经等了好几年了，并且有一个很好的爆炸的机会——嗯，如果你是马斯克，公关大师，你就会抓住机会。然而，火箭的有效载荷将是红色的特斯拉跑车，它将在重复播放大卫·鲍伊的“太空怪”。

The intended destination: Mars orbit, that is if it doesn’t blow up on ascent⁷. And while sending a Tesla to space might be a silly PR stunt⁸, the launch is anything but. The rocket was designed from the start to ferry people to the moon and to Mars. A successful launch would put SpaceX, a giant lip forward, towards getting to deep space. Oh, and did I mention that SpaceX is hoping to land all three first stage boosters? Yes, that’s also happening.

如果火箭发射顺利，则目标是:火星轨道。虽然把特斯拉送到太空可能是一种愚蠢的公关噱头，但这次发射绝非易事。这枚火箭从一开始就被设计用来将人们运送到月球和火星。如果发射成功，太空探索技术公司(SpaceX)——一个巨大的“跨越”——将朝着进入太空的方向前进。哦，我有没有提到SpaceX公司希望把所有三个一级推进器都着陆?是的,这一切正在发生。

1 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

2 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

3 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。

4 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

7 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

8 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。