经济学人下载:星际飞船已备好,来一场说走就走的宇宙之旅(2)

Crucially, unlike a Saturn V, every part of which except the capsule containing the crew was thrown away during the course of a mission, a Starship will be fully recyclable, with both stages returning to Earth in a manner similar to SN8. Moreover, unlike Saturn's partially recyclable successor, the Space Shuttle, refurbishing a Starship for relaunch will not cost $1bn a pop. Instead, Mr Musk estimates, the turnaround will require only a few million dollars. 

最主要的是，土星5号在执行任务的过程中除了载有宇航员的太空舱外其他部分都会被丢弃，而星际飞船和土星5号不同，它可以被完全回收，两个阶段都会以类似SN8的方式返回地球。此外，与土星的部分可回收的继任者“太空梭”不同，星际飞船为重启而进行翻新所花费的费用不到10亿美元。相反，马斯克估计，整个翻新只需花费几百万美元。

Starships should also be cheap to build. Instead of a fancy carbon-fibre composite they are made of stainless steel, which is a seventieth as expensive, but is, in many ways, better. Not only is it resistant to the fracturing to which a composite might be prone in the low temperatures of outer space, but its melting-point is also high enough to prevent damage in the fiery conditions of re-entry. This is an important part of a Starship's easy recyclability. 

星际飞船的建造成本应该也很低。它们用不锈钢代替了花哨的碳纤维复合材料，不锈钢的价格虽是碳纤维复合材料的70倍，但它在很多方面的表现确实比碳纤维复合材料要材料更加优质。它不仅能抵抗复合材料在外层空间的低温下可能发生的破裂，而且它的熔点也足够高，可以防止飞船在重返大气层的高温条件下被破坏。这是星际飞船易于回收利用的一个重要原因。

When an entire Starship will fly is still anyone's guess. Mr Musk has a good record of doing what he says, but his timings have a tendency to slip. For a man who famously once said his ambition was to die on Mars, but not on impact, the Starship project is an important step on the road to his intended retirement home. Bases on the Moon or Mars would need frequent resupply from Earth. That would be made easier by highpowered reusable rockets. Mr Musk has, himself, put the odds of SN8's flight being successful at three to one against. If it does succeed, however, the odds against his wider vision of the future coming true will shorten. 

谁也说不准整艘星际飞船什么时候能飞起来。马斯克一向有言出必行的良好记录，但时间往往会走偏。对于一个曾经说过自己的夙愿是死在火星上而不是死在撞击上的人来说，星际飞船计划是他通往退休之家的重要一步。月球或火星上的基地需要频繁从地球获得补给，高功率可重复使用的火箭将使这一点变得更加容易。马斯克自己认为SN8飞行成功的几率是3:1。然而，如果成功了，实现他对未来更广阔愿景的几率将会增加。