中国人都在睡觉时，美国完成远远把中国抛离的壮举

In a historic first, SpaceX launched the world’s mostpowerful operational rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. Bynailing the giant rocket’s first flight, and landing its two side boosters onthe ground, the Hawthorne company set the stage for faster and cheaper launches of satellites — particularly lucrative national security satellites and other cargo.

周二，SpaceX（美国太空探索技术公司）在佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心发射了世界上最强大的运载火箭，此次发射史无前例。霍索恩公司通过钉住巨型火箭，并将两个助推器安置在地面上来进行此次首次发射，这样可以更快更低成本地发射卫星---特别是有利可图的国家安全卫星和其他荷载。

The test payload for the demonstration mission was SpaceXfounder and Chief Executive Elon Musk’s midnight cherry Tesla Roadster. The carwas shown by remote camera separating from the rocket and astronauts riding in the company’s Dragon 2 capsule wear heading out toward Mars, a dummy ‘Starman’ behind the wheel, wearing a Space-X –designed spacesuit that will eventually. A sign saying ’Don’t Panic!’ in all capital letters was seen on the dashboard console.

该示范任务的测试承载物是SpaceX创始人及首席执行官埃隆.马斯克(Elon Musk)的午夜樱桃特斯拉跑车。借由与火箭分离并朝向火星方向的摄像机展示该车的整个活动过程，它是车轮后面的一个假人“Starman”，身穿Spacex公司设计的宇航服，该宇航服最终将由乘坐在“龙2号”太空舱的宇航员佩戴。仪表盘控制台上能看到用大写字体写的标语“不要惊慌！”。

’I had this image of just a giant explosion on the pad with a wheel bouncing down the road,’ Musk said during a post-launch news conference Tuesday afternoon. ’Fortunately, that’s not what happened.’

周二下午，马斯克在新闻发布会上说：“我曾想象过发射台上会出现巨大的爆炸，然后一个齿轮被弹出来。“幸运的是，事情并非如此。”

After liftoff, SpaceX attempted to land all three of Falcon Heavy’s boosters back on Earth — two on land and one on a floating platform atsea. Musk had described the attempt as ’synchronized aerial ballet.’ About eight minutes after liftoff, the two side boosters set down simultaneously on land.

火箭升空后，SpaceX公司试图将猎鹰重型火箭的三个助推器都带回地球-其中两个使其着陆，第三个坠浮在海面。马斯克曾将此次尝试描述为“同步的空中芭蕾”。大约八分钟后，两个助推器同时落地。

The rocket’s center core, which was set to touch down on a floating sea platform, did not fare as well. During the news conference, Musk said the booster hit the water at a speed of about 300 mph and was about 328 feet away from the floating platform, taking out two of the drone ship’s thruster sand showering the deck with shrapnel.

火箭的核心部分按照规划的，降落在一个浮动的海上平台上，也不算很理想。新闻发布会上，马斯克曾说，助推器以300英里每小时的速度窗撞击到水面，距浮动平台约328英尺的地方，两艘无人驾驶船的推进器被甩了出来，破碎部分散落在平台上。

Musk said two of three engines on the core did not ignite during the landing attempt. But he said the company was not planning to reuse the core or the two side boosters from this particular mission.

马斯克说，核心上的三个发动机中的两个在试陆期间没有燃毁。但从此次任务的特殊程度看，他表示，该公司并不打算重新使用该核心部件或两个助推器。

The launch occurred at 12:45 p.m. PST from Launch Complex39A, the same launch pad where the Saturn V rocket last lifted off to take astronauts to the moon 45 years ago. The launch was originally set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, but it was delayed several times Tuesday to wait out high upper-atmosphere winds.

距上次45年前，土星五号火箭承载宇航员最后发射登上月球的时间，此次发射时间是下午12时45分，地点同样位于太空发射台39A。 而此次发射时间最初定在周二上午10点30分，但由于周二高空大风而多次延迟发射。

About 4 minutes after launch, the rocket’s fairing — the clamshell-like covering that protects payloads at the top of the rocket —deployed successfully.

发射后约4分钟，火箭的整流罩 - 保护火箭顶部的有效载荷的翻盖式覆盖物 - 成功部署。

On a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, Musk said the Tesla would do a ’grand tour’ through the Van Allen belts, an area of high radiation that surrounds the Earth, as part of a six-hour cost in deep space that is intended to demonstrate to the U.S. Air Force that Falcon Heavy can meet specific orbit-insertion requirements.

周一下午，与记者的电话会议上，马斯克说，特斯拉将通过范艾伦带，即一个围绕地球的高辐射区域，作为高空六小时海岸的一部分，旨在向美国空军表明重型火箭可以满足特定的轨道嵌插要求。

If the car survives that environment, then it will continue on to an elliptical orbit around the sun that at times will come close to Mars, with an "extremely tiny" chance it will hit the Red Planet, though Musk said, "I wouldn’t hold your breath."

尽管马斯克表示：“我不愿意让你们紧张不安”，但如果汽车能在这样的环境中保存下去，那么它将继续绕着太阳运行的椭圆轨道运行，有时可能会撞上火星。

The journey of Starman and the Tesla is being live-streamed by SpaceX on YouTube. About 2:50 p.m. Pacific time, the car and its driver were seen drifting through space with Earth looming behind.

SpaceX公司将Starman和特斯拉的旅程在YouTube做了直播。 下午2:50左右（太平洋时间） ，可以看到汽车和司机在地球后面的空间里漂移。

Musk said Tuesday that he thought the payload was "silly and fun."

周二，马斯克表示，他本以为承载物是“愚蠢而有趣的”

I think the imagery of it is something that’s going to get people excited around the world, he said. "It’s still tripping me out."

“他说：“我认为它的唯美画面足以让全世界人们兴奋不已，‘让我无法自拔’。”

Falcon Heavy is the most powerful U.S. rocket since the Saturn V. First announced to the public in 2011, Falcon Heavy was expected to generate 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and be capable of carrying more than 140,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit.

猎鹰重型火箭是继土星五号发射以来最强大的美国火箭。2011年首次向公众宣布时，预计该火箭在起飞时将产生510万磅的推力，并能够承载14万磅以上的货物到达低地球轨道。

The launch of Falcon Heavy sets SpaceX up as an even more powerful competitor in the private space industry, particularly in terms of heavy-lift capacity. Although other companies, such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Orbital ATK, are also developing giant rockets to hoist heavy payloads to space, Tuesday’s successful launch gives SpaceX several years of lead time, said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst at Teal Group.

猎鹰重型火箭的发射使SpaceX公司成为私人太空行业更为强大的竞争对手，特别是在重载能力方面。 尽管诸如JeffBezos（亚马逊CEO杰夫-贝索斯）的BlueOrigin和OrbitalATK等公司也在开发巨型火箭将重型载荷运往太空，但此次周二成功发射的猎鹰重型火箭会使SpaceX公司在该领域独占鳌头数年，TealGroup的高级空间分析师MarcoCaceres表示。

It’s just changing the whole game, he said. "The fact that you have a brand-new rocket that is the most powerful rocket and it’s a success on the first try, that’s big news."

“它改变了这个领域整个游戏的格局”他说。 “事实上，当你拥有一个全新的火箭，而且是全世界上最强大的火箭，那就意味着这是一次成功的试验，是个大新闻。”

With its large payload capacity, the Falcon Heavy is expected to help SpaceX win contracts that require more capability than its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

由于其有效载荷量大，比起出力的猎鹰9，更具威力的猎鹰重型火箭有望帮助SpaceX公司赢得更多的合同。

When you’re talking about highly classified payloads or special missions, you really want to be sure you’ve got capacity, Ellen Tauscher, former U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, who serves on SpaceX’s board of advisors, said Tuesday.

美国前军控和国际安全副国务卿艾伦.陶什（EllenTauscher）周二在SpaceX公司董事会任职时说：“当你谈论的是高度机密的有效载荷或特殊任务时，你会确信自己有这个能力。”

Analysts have said that the commercial launch market for large satellites is tight and that SpaceX would need to secure new opportunities, such as NASA planetary missions, to maximize its investment in Falcon Heavy — which, on Tuesday, Musk pegged at more than half a billion dollars. But its huge payload capacity and price tag — launches start at $90 million — could change things, said Bill Ostrove, aerospace and defense analyst at Forecast International.

分析人士表示，大型卫星的商业发射市场是紧张的，SpaceX公司需要获得新的机会，如美国航空航天局行星任务，以最大限度地投资猎鹰重型——与周二马斯克挂钩的五十多亿美元。 但是国际预测公司（Forecast International）的航空航天和防务分析师Bill Ostrove表示，它巨大的有效载荷能力和高达9,000万美元的市值——可能会改变事态。

With a price point at that level, we don’t know what’s going to develop going forward, he said.

他说：“以这个水平的市场价格，我们不知道未来会发展成什么样子。”

Falcon Heavy won’t even be the largest rocket SpaceX intends to build. On Tuesday, Musk said the rocket’s successful test flight gave him confidence in the company’s upcoming BFR spaceship and rocket system, which he has said will carry people to colonize Mars.

猎鹰重型火箭不会是太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）想要建造的最大火箭。周三，马斯克称该火箭的成功发射使他对接下来的BFR飞船火箭系统发展拥有了更多信心，BFR系统将载着人们去往火星移民。

Musk first promised that a demonstration flight of the massive rocket would occur in 2012. But SpaceX, whose full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp., found that development of the 27-engine behemoth was more difficult than initially expected.

马斯克最初承诺重型火箭将于2012年进行示范飞行。但SpaceX（Space Exploration Technologies Corp）发现要建造这个拥有27个发动机的巨大火箭比最初的设想更加困难。

After a successful static fire almost two weeks ago, anticipation had been building for Falcon Heavy’s first flight. By noon Pacific time Monday, Kennedy Space Center’s visitor center tweeted that no more tickets were available to watch the launch from designated viewing spots.

两周前，经过最后一次成功的静态点火测试，猎鹰重型火箭的首次试飞终于指日可待。当地时间周一中午，肯尼迪航天中心的访客中心发表推特称，在指定地点观看火箭试飞的票已全部售完。

Musk tried to temper expectations, going as far as to say that there was a "good chance" the rocket would not make it to orbit on the first flight and that he hoped the spacecraft made it "far enough away from the pad that it does not cause pad damage."

马斯克曾多次试图降低人们对猎鹰重型首次飞行的预期。马斯克曾表示，猎鹰重型存在某种可能性（good chance），在升空过程中无法进入轨道。他希望（如果发生爆炸的话）火箭可以离发射台足够远，不要导致发射台损坏。

I would even consider that a win, to be honest, he told an audience at a space conference in Washington this summer.

他曾在今年夏天一次华盛顿航天会议上表示，“老实说，我认为会成功。”

Tauscher, who as a representative for California’s 10th Congressional District served on the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that the launch would be an opportunity to learn.

陶什，加利福尼亚第10届国会选区代表，就职于美国众议院军事委员会，她周二表示这次发射会是一个很好的学习机会。

You have to be innovative, she said. "You have to be willing to do tests that give you the answers you’re looking for."

她说，“人必须要有创新精神，必须要愿意做试验，才能找寻你所期望的结果。”

On Monday, Musk told reporters he didn’t feel that stressed about the launch.I feel quite giddy and happy, actually, Musk said. "We’ve done everything we could to maximize the chance of success for this mission."

周一，马斯克告诉媒体，对于此次试飞并未过于紧张。“实际上，我感到十分兴奋，为了提高这次试飞的成功率，我们已经做了我们所能做到的一切。”