2019年经济学人太空旅行(1)（打印版）

It looked for all the world like something that might have graced the cover of a 1950s comic book.

它看起来就像是装饰着20世纪50年代漫画书的封面一样。

On September 28th, on a warm Texas evening, Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX, a rocketry firm,

9月28日，在德克萨斯州的一个温暖的夜晚，火箭技术公司SpaceX的老板埃隆·马斯克

unveiled his company's newest machine, Starship Mk1. It stands 50 metres tall and is made from shiny plates of stainless steel.

展示了他公司的最新机器——Starship Mk1。它高50米，由闪闪发光的不锈钢板制成。

Despite its name, it is not in fact an interstellar spacecraft. But it is a prototype of an interplanetary one.

除了它的名字，它其实并不是星际飞船。但它是行星际宇宙飞船的原型。

Mr Musk hopes, one day, to use its successors to ferry passengers to the Moon or to Mars—

马斯克希望未来能使用它的成品将乘客送往月球或火星—

or perhaps even, according to one piece of SpaceX concept art, all the way to Saturn.

或者根据SpaceX的一幅概念图，将他们直接送往土星。

In the 17 years since its founding, SpaceX's cheap, reusable machines have revolutionised the rocket business.

自其成立以来的17年里，SpaceX廉价且可重复使用的机器彻底改变了火箭行业。

The firm's ultra-low prices have seen it grab a dominant share of the commercial satellite-launching market.

该公司的超低价格使其在商业卫星发射市场占据了主导地位。

Along with Boeing, an American aerospace giant, SpaceX is responsible for ferrying supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX和美国航空业巨头波音共同负责向国际空间站运送物资。

It may soon fly astronauts there as well. But all of this commercial success is merely a necessary first step in Mr Musk's bigger plan,

可能很快就要运送航天员。但所有这些商业成功仅仅是马斯克更宏伟计划的第一步，

which is to make humanity into a "multiplanetary species" by establishing colonies elsewhere in the solar system.

他计划在太阳系其他地方建立殖民地，让人类成为“跨星球物种”。

That is where the Starship comes in. The prototype on display in Texas is only one half of an enormous rocket stack

因此就有了Starship。德克萨斯州展出的原型只是一个巨大的火箭堆的一半，

designed with planetary colonisation in mind. When paired with a Falcon Super Heavy booster,

这个火箭堆的设计考虑到了行星殖民。搭配超级重型猎鹰助推器

which is also being developed, the result should be capable of lifting around 150 tonnes into orbit.

（也在研发当中），它应该能够将约150公吨的重量送入轨道。

That would make it the most powerful rocket ever built, squeaking ahead of the Saturn V,

这将使它成为有史以来最强大的火箭，超越在20世纪六七十年代

which propelled astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s.

将宇航员送上月球的土星5号运载火箭（Saturn V）。

And unlike the Saturn, whose three stages were abandoned to the sea or to space as their fuel was used up,

和土星5号不同的是，随着燃料耗尽，土星5号的三个段被遗弃在了海中或太空里，

the Starship and its booster will be reusable, which should keep costs down.

而Starship及其助推器将能够反复使用，因而降低了成本。

It is a bold plan. Mr Musk's shorter-term plans are bold too.

这是一个大胆的计划。马斯克的短期计划也很大胆。