第2220期:After Delays, Boeing Launches Astronauts into Orbit

Boeing launched astronauts into space with its delayed Starliner spacecraft for the first time Wednesday. 波音公司于周三首次使用其延迟的星际线飞船将宇航员送入太空。The launch marked the company’s entry into competition with SpaceX to provide service for the American space agency NASA. 此次发射标志着该公司进入与SpaceX竞争，为美国航天局NASA提供服务。NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off in the Starliner spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was powered by an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. NASA测试飞行员Butch Wilmore和Suni Williams乘坐星际线飞船从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角起飞前往国际空间站（ISS）。该飞船由波音和洛克希德·马丁公司的联合发射联盟的Atlas V火箭提供动力。Boeing designed Starliner to fly without human assistance. But the astronauts can take control of the spacecraft if necessary. The test flight calls for Wilmore and Williams to take control of the vehicle on the way to the space station. The trip to the ISS is expected to last 25 hours, with arrival on Thursday. The two astronauts will spend just one week at the orbiting laboratory before heading back to Earth to land in the western United States on June 14. 波音设计的星际线飞船可以在没有人为干预的情况下飞行。但如果有必要，宇航员可以控制飞船。测试飞行要求Wilmore和Williams在前往空间站的途中控制飞行器。预计到达ISS的时间为25小时，预计将在周四到达。两名宇航员将在轨道实验室停留一周，然后于6月14日返回地球，降落在美国西部。Wilmore and Williams are former Navy pilots and long-time astronauts. The two have spent a combined 500 days in space over two ISS missions each. Both said repeatedly before the launch that they had full confidence in Boeing for this flight after so many delays. Wilmore和Williams都是前海军飞行员和长期的宇航员。两人分别在两次ISS任务中共度过了500天的太空时光。两人在发射前反复表示，在经历了这么多次的延误后，他们对这次飞行充满信心。The launch came two years after Starliner completed its first test flight to the ISS without astronauts on board. Last-minute problems had delayed the Starliner's first two launch attempts with humans. 此次发射是在星际线完成首次无宇航员的ISS测试飞行两年后进行的。最后时刻的问题导致星际线的前两次载人发射尝试被推迟。NASA halted a planned May 6 launch two hours before liftoff because of a problem with a rocket. Another attempt last Saturday was halted less than four minutes before liftoff because of a problem with a launchpad computer. 由于火箭问题，NASA在计划于5月6日的发射前两小时叫停了发射。上周六的另一次尝试则在发射前不到四分钟因发射台计算机问题而被叫停。“I know it’s been a long road to get here,” NASA’s commercial crew program leader Steve Stich said before the weekend delay. “我知道到达这里的道路很漫长，”NASA商业载人计划负责人Steve Stich在周末推迟前说道。Boeing and SpaceX are both paid to carry NASA’s astronauts to and from the space station. The space agency wanted two competing U.S. companies after ending the space shuttle program. 波音和SpaceX都获得了运送NASA宇航员往返空间站的报酬。在结束航天飞机计划后，NASA希望有两家竞争的美国公司。In 2020, SpaceX became the first private business to launch astronauts into orbit. Only three countries, Russia, the U.S., and China have launched humans into space using their own systems. Since then, SpaceX has taken nine crews to the space station for NASA and three private groups for a Houston company. 2020年，SpaceX成为首个将宇航员送入轨道的私人企业。只有俄罗斯、美国和中国三个国家使用自己的系统将人类送入太空。从那时起，SpaceX已经为NASA送了九个航班到空间站，并为休斯顿的一家公司送了三个私人团体。If the Starliner mission goes well, NASA will use both SpaceX and Boeing for flights, beginning next year. 如果星际线任务顺利，NASA将从明年开始同时使用SpaceX和波音进行飞行。