2020年经济学人 星际飞船已备好,来一场说走就走的宇宙之旅(1)

Space flight

宇宙飞行

Tally¹ ho!

呔嗬！

The Starship SN8 is ready for lift off

星际飞船SN8已准备好起航

If all goes well, Elon Musk's plan to conquer the universe will soon take another step forward, with the flight of Starship SN8, a rocket built by his company, SpaceX. SN8 is expected to rise from its launch pad at Boca Chica, in Texas, sometime between December 4th and 6th. (SpaceX have not confirmed this, but a local flight restriction² has been imposed on the area for that period.) The idea is that it will fly to an altitude of 15km, cut its engines, tip slowly forward until it is parallel with Earth's surface, and let gravity take its course. Then, shortly before it hits the ground, it will fire its thrusters again to realign itself vertically³ and will thus come gently to rest on a landing pad a few hundred metres away from where it took off.

如果一切顺利，随着SpaceX公司制造的“SN8星舰”火箭的飞行，埃隆·马斯克征服宇宙的计划将很快向前迈进一步。SN8预计将于12月4日至6日间从德克萨斯州博卡奇卡的发射台升空。(SpaceX尚未证实这一点，但该地区在这段时间内实施了飞行限制。)计划是，SN8将飞到15公里的高度，关闭引擎，慢慢向前倾斜直到与地球表面平行，并让重力来决定它的路线。然后，在落地前不久它将再次启动推进器，重新进行垂直调整，之后缓慢落在离起飞地点几百米远的着陆台上。

SN8 is, as its name suggests, the eighth in the current series of prototypes for SpaceX's proposed Starship (SN stands for "serial⁴ number"). It is, though, the first to have a nose cone⁵, and thus to assume the distinctive⁶ atmosphere-penetrating shape normally sported by space rockets. It also has more oomph than its predecessors⁷. Previous SNS have used just one of SpaceX's Raptor engines, and have, if launched (some were used for ground tests), reached a height of no more than 150 metres. SN8 includes three Raptors—half the number expected for the finished design.

正如它的名字所示，SN8是SpaceX目前计划中的星际飞船系列原型中的第八艘(SN代表“序列号”)。不过，它是第一个拥有锥鼻的火箭，因此它具备一般太空火箭所具备的独特的能够穿透大气层的形状。它还比它的前辈们更具魅力。以前的SNS只使用了SpaceX的猛禽引擎中的一个，而且一旦发射(一些被用于地面测试)，其高度不超过150米。SN8则包含3个猛禽引擎，是预计完成设计数量的一半。

Strictly⁸, SN8 is a prototype of only the second stage of the Starship that SpaceX proposes eventually to build. Its successors are intended to sit on an as-yet-to-beconstructed "Super Heavy" rocket that will deliver the bulk of the firepower. This firststage vehicle is expected to house up to 37 Raptors. These will give it double the thrust developed by the first stage of a Saturn⁹ V, the launch vehicle America used for its crewed Moon missions. And the Moon is, indeed, an intended destination, though the craft will earn most of its bread and butter ferrying goods and people into orbits close to Earth—a task for which it has a capacity of 100 tonnes.

严格来说，SN8只是SpaceX计划最终建造的星际飞船的第二阶段的原型。它的下一任计划坐在一种尚未建造的“超级重型”火箭之上，这种火箭将提供大部分的火力。第一阶段的运载工具预计将容纳37架猛禽。这将使其推力达到美国用于载人登月任务的运载火箭“土星5号”第一阶段时的两倍。虽说这艘飞船的主要收入来源是运送货物和人员到接近地球的轨道——这是一项载重量为100吨的任务，但月球是其真正的预订目的地。

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

3 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

4 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

5 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

6 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

7 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

9 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。