SpaceX is making human space travel a routine form of commerceSpaceX公司正在让人类太空旅行成为一种常规商业模式And a model of public-private partnership以及一种公私合作模式Jun 6th 2020 |
AT AN ALTITUDE of 400km, with both vessels travelling at 7.7km a second, the Crew Dragon capsule took orbital advantage of a freedom denied to the socially distanced on Earth to come within two metres of the International Space Station. After a final 20 seconds of stately approach the Endeavour’s capture ring made contact with the station’s docking adaptor. The short voyage’s simple, straightforward end belied its significance.
altitude: 高度
stately: 缓慢庄严的、宏伟的
capture ring: 抓手
belie: 掩饰
在400公里的高度，两艘飞船都以每秒7.7公里的速度飞行，“龙飞船”摆脱地球束缚，利用在轨道上的自由移动来到与国际空间站不到两米的位置。经过最后20秒缓慢的靠近奋进号，奋进号的抓手与空间站的对接器对接在一起。这次短暂旅行的结束虽然简单、顺利，但意义巨大。In May 2012 SpaceX, a Californian firm founded by Elon Musk, started using its spacecraft to make cargo deliveries to the space station built by America, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. (They started being used to bring the station’s rubbish back down a week later.) The mission it launched on May 30th, though, used a completely revamped version of the firm’s Dragon capsule to carry up something much more precious: two astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. They were the first Americans to reach orbit in an American spacecraft since the last flight of the space shuttle Atlantis in 2011. They were the first astronauts of any country to reach orbit in a vessel designed and operated by a private company.
