这一刻终于到来了。大约八年前，即2019年1月，埃隆·马斯克在推特上透露了特斯拉Roadster的计划：该车将借助冷气推进器以及超高压空气实现升空。本周四，备受期待的Roadster果然如预期般完成了这一壮举。
It's been a long time coming. Almost eight years ago, in January 2019, Elon Musk shared plans on Twitter for Tesla's Roadster to lift off using cold-gas thrusters and ultra-high-pressure air. On Thursday, the much-anticipated Roadster did exactly that.
2019年时，一位网友分享了电影《回到未来》中德洛雷跑车悬浮在空中的动图，马斯克随即回应称：“新款Roadster也能做到类似的效果。”科技类视频博主马奎斯·布朗利则回复道：“我觉得您不是在开玩笑吧。”马斯克回答：“我确实没开玩笑。”他还提到，新车将采用SpaceX研发的冷气推进系统，利用储存在复合材料压力容器中的超高压空气来替代后排两个座椅的位置。
Musk's 2019 assertion came in response to a user sharing a GIF of the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" hovering in midair. "The new Roadster will actually do something like this," he wrote. Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee responded: "The thing is I feel like you’re not joking." "I'm not," Musk said. I’m not. Will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats.
近八年后，也就是本周四，在德克萨斯州的一处SpaceX测试场地上，一辆Roadster沿着弧形坡道上升，随后腾空翻滚，最终稳稳地以车轮着地。整个过程运用的正是同样的原理：由储存在复合材料压力容器中的高压空气驱动的冷气推进器。
He then described a SpaceX-made cold-gas thruster system that uses high-pressure air stored in a composite pressure vessel. At a SpaceX test site in Texas on Thursday, almost 8 years later, a Roadster climbed a curved ramp, dropped, rolled through the air and landed on its wheels. It used the same basic technology: cold-gas thrusters fed by high-pressure air stored in composite pressure vessels. The 2019 exchange was not Musk’s first mention of thrusters.
其实早在2019年之前，马斯克就曾多次提及这种推进技术。2018年6月，他曾表示新款Roadster会配备约10个此类推进器，甚至认为它们有可能让汽车实现飞行。当另一位网友提议使用压缩空气驱动的冷气推进器时，马斯克也认可了该方案，并提到需要用泵来补充空气。
In June 2018, he said the Roadster would include roughly 10 of them and suggested they might allow the car to fly. Using the config you describe, plus an electric pump to replenish air in COPV, when car power draw drops below max pack power output, makes sense. But we are going to go a lot further. When another user proposed compressed-air cold-gas thrusters, Musk said that configuration made sense and described a pump to replenish the air.
不过，虽然马斯克对技术细节的描述始终如一，但产品的量产时间表却屡屡变动。特斯拉于2017年公布了第二代Roadster的计划，最初预计2020年投产；历经多次延期后，马斯克在最新发布时称量产时间将定在2028年。事实上，Roadster并非特斯拉唯一一个未能如期上市的车型。
Musk's account of the technology has proved more consistent than his production timetable. Tesla unveiled plans for the second-generation Roadster in 2017 and originally targeted production for 2020. After repeated delays, Musk said in the reveal that production will begin in 2028. The Roadster is not Tesla’s only vehicle to miss an ambitious release target.
马斯克在2019年亮相赛博皮卡时表示，特斯拉预计将于2021年底开始生产。首批客户交付在两年后的2023年11月进行。尽管马斯克错过了许多期限，但他许多看似不太可能的技术计划已走出图纸。2020年12月，他表示SpaceX将尝试用发射塔接住返回的超级重型助推器。“我们将尝试用发射塔机臂接住超级重型助推器，利用网格鳍承受载荷。”
When Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, he said Tesla expected production to begin in late 2021. The first customer deliveries took place two years later, in November 2023. While Musk has missed plenty of deadlines, many of his more improbable technology plans have made it beyond the drawing board. In December 2020, he said SpaceX would try to catch a returning Super Heavy booster with its launch tower. We’re going to try to catch the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower arm, using the grid fins to take the load Nearly four years later, the tower’s mechanical "chopsticks" caught one for the first time.
将近四年后，发射塔的机械“筷子”首次接住了一枚火箭。发射塔接住了火箭！马斯克有在技术成熟之前很久就许下不太可能的承诺的习惯，但最终，那个不太可能的部分还是会到来。
The tower has caught the rocket!! Musk has a habit of promising the improbable well before it is ready, but eventually, the improbable part arrives.