埃隆·马斯克的SpaceX公司将尝试双重捕获星际飞船火箭。该公司将首次尝试抓住火箭的两个部分。
Elon Musk’s SpaceX to attempt double catch of Starship rocket Elon Musk’s company will try to grab both parts of the rocket for the first time.
作者：丽贝卡·莫雷尔、艾莉森·弗朗西斯。SpaceX公司将在周五的下一次试飞中，尝试捕获其巨大的星际飞船火箭的两个部分。
By Rebecca Morelle , Alison Francis SpaceX will attempt to catch both parts of its huge Starship rocket after it launches on its next test flight on Friday.
埃隆·马斯克的公司将使用发射塔上的机械臂——绰号“筷子”——在火箭部件返回地球途中将其空中抓获。
Elon Musk's company will use the mechanical arms - nicknamed chopsticks - on its launch tower to grab the rocket parts mid-air as they return to Earth.
如果成功，这将是首次完全回收一艘进入过太空的火箭，为星际飞船的可重复使用铺平道路，使其能够反复飞行。
If successful, this will be the first full recovery of a rocket that's been to space, paving the way for making Starship reusable so it can fly repeatedly.
美国宇航局将密切关注此次飞行：这枚SpaceX火箭将在其阿尔忒弥斯计划中发挥至关重要的作用，该计划将让宇航员登陆月球。
Nasa will be closely watching the flight: the SpaceX rocket is set to play a vital part in its Artemis programme, which will see astronauts land on the Moon.
这枚高124米的火箭计划于当地时间16时45分（格林尼治标准时间22时45分）从得克萨斯州星基地发射台发射，发射窗口为75分钟。
The 124m-tall rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Starbase launchpad in Texas at 1645 local time (2245 GMT) with a 75-minute-long launch window.
六分半钟后，将尝试第一次捕获，届时火箭底部——超级重型助推器——将返回发射塔。
After six and a half minutes, the first planned catch will be attempted when the bottom part of the rocket - the Super Heavy booster - returns to the launch tower.
火箭顶部，称为“船体”，将继续其前往太空的旅程并部署26颗卫星。这些卫星将成为星链星座的一部分，该星座从太空提供高速互联网。
The top part of the rocket, called the Ship, will continue its journey to space and deploy 26 satellites. These will form part of the Starlink constellation that provides high speed internet from space.
随后，“船体”预计绕地球完成14圈轨道，然后在起飞约22个半小时后返回，进行第二次捕获尝试。
The Ship is then due to complete 14 orbits around the Earth before returning for the second catch attempt about 22 and a half hours after taking off.
迄今为止，SpaceX在三次早前的试飞中成功捕获了超级重型助推器。
Until now, SpaceX has managed to catch the Super Heavy Booster on three earlier test flights.
但火箭的上级——该级火箭首次进入轨道是在9月——从未被“筷子”抓住。相反，它溅落在海洋中。
But the upper stage of the rocket, which only reached orbit for the first time in September, has never been grabbed by the chopsticks. Instead it's splashed down in the ocean.
SpaceX表示，只有在仔细评估飞行器在太空中的状态后，才会决定是否尝试捕获“船体”。
SpaceX said it would only decide to try to catch the Ship after carefully assessing the vehicle while it's in space.
如果检测到任何问题，在飞行过程中有多个时间点可以将火箭级别降落到海洋中。
If any problems are detected there are various points during the flight when the rocket stage can be brought down in the ocean.
建造一枚完全可重复使用的火箭，是SpaceX长期以来的雄心。
Building a fully reusable rocket is a long-held ambition for SpaceX.
2015年，它成为首家垂直着陆火箭部分部件的公司，使用的是其猎鹰9号助推器。
In 2015, it became the first company to vertically land part of a rocket with its Falcon 9 booster.
猎鹰9号火箭现在每年飞行超过一百次，能够重复使用火箭底部，大幅降低了发射成本。
Falcon 9 rockets now fly more than a hundred times a year, and the ability to reuse the bottom part of the rocket has dramatically cut the costs of launch.
但皇家航空学会主席马尔科姆·麦克唐纳教授表示，着陆整枚星际飞船火箭可能将这项技术推向新的高度。
But landing an entire Starship rocket could take this to the next level, says Prof Malcolm Macdonald, President of Royal Aeronautical Society.
“一次成功的双重捕获将视觉上极为壮观，但完全可重复使用有可能从根本上改变进入太空的经济性，”他说。
"A successful double catch would be visually spectacular, but full reusability has the potential to fundamentally change the economics of accessing space," he said.
“一次成功的飞行无法证明这一模式，但它可能标志着一个重要的转折点：从证明星际飞船可以飞行，转向证明星际飞船如何运行。”
"One successful flight will not prove that model, but it could mark an important transition: from demonstrating that Starship can fly, to demonstrating how Starship could operate."
SpaceX今年早些时候上市后，其股东将密切关注此次飞行，美国宇航局也将如此。
After SpaceX went public earlier this year, its shareholders will be carefully monitoring this flight, as will the US Space Agency.
星际飞船的进展对美国宇航局在2028年将人类送上月球的计划有直接影响——这是一个极具雄心的时间表。
The progress of Starship has direct implications for Nasa's attempt to land humans on the Moon in 2028 - a highly ambitious timeline.
SpaceX已获得美国宇航局的合同，将星际飞船改装成登月舱，最终将宇航员送上月球表面。
SpaceX has been given a Nasa contract to configure the Ship into a lander that will eventually take astronauts down to the lunar surface.
但它并非唯一与美国宇航局合作的公司。由竞争对手科技亿万富翁杰夫·贝佐斯拥有的蓝色起源公司，也获得了合同，将使用其新格伦火箭和登月舱进行月球着陆。
But it's not the only company working with the US Space Agency. Blue Origin, owned by rival tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, also has a contract to use its New Glenn rocket and lander for the Moon touch down.
这两家公司还将在阿尔忒弥斯三号任务中发挥关键作用，该任务目前计划于2027年夏季进行——另一个具有挑战性的时间表。
Both companies will also play a key role in Artemis III, which is currently planned for summer 2027- another challenging schedule.
这项任务将由四名乘坐美国宇航局猎户座飞船的宇航员尝试与SpaceX和蓝色起源的登月舱对接。
This mission will see four astronauts in Nasa's Orion spacecraft attempt to dock with both SpaceX and Blue Origin's landers.
星际飞船在未来几个月需要取得很大进展，以履行这些承诺——该火箭的开发速度远比SpaceX原本设想的要慢。
Starship will need to make a lot of progress in the coming months to meet these commitments - the pace of the rocket's development has been far slower than SpaceX had intended.
但蓝色起源公司仍有大量工作要做。该公司今年早些时候遭遇重大挫折，其火箭爆炸，彻底摧毁了位于佛罗里达州的发射台。
But Blue Origin also has much work to do. The company suffered a major setback earlier this year when its rocket exploded, totally destroying its launchpad in Florida.
蓝色起源公司此前表示，将在今年年底前恢复运行，但复飞现已推迟至2027年初。
Blue Origin had said they would be back in action by the end of this year, but a return to flight has now been delayed to early in 2027.
美国宇航局面临按期完成任务的压力。其局长贾里德·艾萨克曼表示，美国正与中国竞相登月。中国计划在2030年前将其航天员送上月球表面。
Nasa is under pressure to meet its timelines. Its administrator Jared Isaacman has said America is in a race with China to get to the Moon. China plans to land its Taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030.