美国国家公共电台 NPR--SpaceX readies to launch the biggest rocket ever made. Will it get off the ground?

SpaceX readies to launch the biggest rocket ever made. Will it get off the ground?

Transcript¹

In South Texas, the commercial spaceflight company SpaceX is preparing to test a huge, stainless²-steel rocket. The machine could one day carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

There was a lot of excitement this morning over the flight company SpaceX's planned launch of the biggest rocket ever made. Earlier today, NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel and I were discussing all the ways this could go wrong, you know, like the rocket exploding, or the way things could go right. But the launch of the Starship spacecraft - well, it didn't happen at all.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The weather was excellent. Everything was looking good. Sadly, we just have the one issue.

FADEL: So Geoff is back with us to explain what that one issue was. Good morning, Geoff.

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE³: Hi there, Leila.

FADEL: OK, so what happened?

BRUMFIEL: Well, there was a problem on the giant booster rocket that carries Starship into orbit. A valve in the pressurization system was frozen, and that one little valve in this giant stainless-steel booster was enough to call everything off. Now, this isn't a super rare problem. This rocket uses liquid methane⁴ and liquid oxygen. They have to be chilled to very low temperatures. And unfortunately, as anyone who's tried to open a car door after an ice storm knows, sometimes when everything gets cold, something gets stuck.

FADEL: OK, so no launch today, but they say they'll try again in a few days. What do you think we should expect then?

BRUMFIEL: Well, there's sort of two possible outcomes, broadly speaking. You know, the thing SpaceX wants to happen is this rocket will lift off smoothly⁵, fly into space, circle partway around the Earth and splash down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. But there's also the possibility of what rocket scientists like to call a rapid unscheduled disassembly - in other words, an explosion. And that's a real risk because this is a new kind of rocket. As I mentioned, it's made of stainless steel, which is cheap and tough but very heavy. And that means the rocket needs a lot of power. It gets that power from a bunch of engines. The Starship part of it uses six engines. The booster stage needs 33. That's more than any other rocket ever made. And if even one of these engines blows up, it's curtains for the whole thing. Though I should say there's no one on board in this test flight, so even if it explodes, no one should get hurt.

FADEL: Wow. So a lot of ways it could explode.

BRUMFIEL: (Laughter).

FADEL: It seems like a big risk for a private company. What's in it for SpaceX? What does it want this giant rocket for?

BRUMFIEL: Well, there's one word that sums it up. It's actually a planet. It's Mars. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk⁶ is obsessed⁷ with getting people to Mars. He believes this rocket is the first step. It's large enough to deliver a lot of cargo⁸ into orbit cheaply. And SpaceX says the Starship itself could go. Musk believes it could even help create a settlement on Mars.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ELON MUSK: Starship is capable of doing that. It's capable of getting a million tons to the surface of Mars and creating a self-sustaining city.

BRUMFIEL: NASA is also paying SpaceX to develop a version that could land on the moon. And finally, there's a business reason for the company to pursue this. It has a satellite internet company called Starlink that needs more satellites to grow its subscriber⁹ base. The current rocket can launch dozens. That's the current rocket SpaceX uses. Starship could potentially launch hundreds more satellites. So it could be a big help.

FADEL: OK, so today they played it safe. What are the stakes for SpaceX if something does go wrong?

BRUMFIEL: Well, SpaceX doesn't mind having its rockets blow up. They kind of embrace failure on the road to success. And it's a development strategy that's worked well for them in the past. But, you know, these are difficult times for the tech sector¹⁰, and a failure could affect efforts to raise more money by SpaceX. So there's good reasons not to take chances, play it safe, and that's why they called it off today.

FADEL: NPR's Geoff Brumfiel. Thank you so much. And I'm sure we'll talk again when this launch maybe happens?

BRUMFIEL: Yep.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

5 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

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 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 subscriber   

n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者

参考例句：

• The subscriber to a government loan has got higher interest than savings. 公债认购者获得高于储蓄的利息。 来自辞典例句
• Who is the subscriber of that motto? 谁是那条座右铭的签字者？ 来自辞典例句

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。