波音飞船故障可能让美国宇航员滞留到明年2月

Two American astronauts could remain at the International Space Station (ISS) until February if the spacecraft that transported them cannot be fixed to safely bring them home.
两名美国宇航员可能会在国际空间站滞留到明年2月，如果运送他们的航天器无法修复以便安全带他们回家的话。

The U.S. space agency NASA said last week it had not yet made return plans for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The two have been aboard the ISS since June 6.
美国宇航局上周表示，尚未为宇航员布奇·威尔莫尔和苏妮·威廉姆斯制定返回计划。这两人自6月6日以来一直滞留在国际空间站上。

The American astronauts were expected to stay in space for only a week. But technical issues with the Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft have so far prevented a return trip.
这两名美国宇航员原本预计将在太空停留一周。但是波音公司制造的星际客机航天器发生的技术问题阻碍了回程。

The trip that carried Wilmore and Williams was a test flight for Starliner that marked the first time the spacecraft successfully carried astronauts to space.
威尔莫尔和威廉姆斯的这趟行程是星际客机的试飞，标志着该航天器首次成功将宇航员送入太空。

NASA looking for a solution
美国宇航局正在寻找解决方案

NASA officials held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the ongoing situation with Starliner and the astronauts at the ISS. They said the agency is still working with Boeing to find a solution for the spacecraft's technical difficulties. Investigations have centered on helium leaks and thruster problems with Starliner.
美国宇航局官员周三举行了一场记者会，讨论了星际客机和国际空间站上宇航员的现状。他们表示，该机构仍在与波音公司合作，为航天器的技术难题找到解决方案。调查主要集中在星际客机的氦气泄漏和推进器问题上。

But if those issues cannot be resolved in the coming weeks, NASA said it could decide to use SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft to bring the astronauts back to Earth. NASA has been using SpaceX's Crew Dragon to regularly carry astronauts and supplies to the ISS since 2020.
但美国宇航局表示，如果这些问题在未来几周内无法解决，它可能会决定使用太空探索科技公司的载人龙飞船将宇航员带回地球。自2020年以来，美国宇航局一直在使用太空探索科技公司的载人龙飞船定期将宇航员和物资运送到国际空间站。

If NASA decides to use Crew Dragon, it said it would leave two of four seats open during the spacecraft's next planned launch to the ISS in late September. Wilmore and Williams would then make the trip back to Earth with Crew Dragon.
如果美国宇航局决定使用载人龙飞船，它称其将在9月下旬该航天器下一次计划发射到国际空间站期间，将四个座位中的两个留空。威尔莫尔和威廉姆斯随后将与载人龙飞船一起返回地球。

NASA officials told reporters they had brought in additional experts to examine Starliner's leak issues and thruster failures. At the same time, the space agency is looking more closely at SpaceX as a backup solution to get the astronauts back home.
美国宇航局官员告诉记者，他们已经请来了更多的专家来检查星际客机的泄漏问题和推进器故障。与此同时，航天局正在更密切地关注太空探索科技公司，将其作为让宇航员回家的后备解决方案。

The agency's space operations mission chief, Ken Bowersox, said NASA's current thinking is that “we could take either path.” He added that during a recent meeting, “We heard from a lot of folks that had concern, and the decision was not clear.” NASA has said a final decision should be made by mid-August.
该机构太空行动任务负责人肯·鲍尔索克斯表示，美国宇航局目前的想法是“我们可以走任何一条路”。他补充说，在最近的一次会议上，“我们听到了很多人的担忧，但决定尚未做出。”美国宇航局表示，最终决定应该会在8月中旬做出。

Boeing representatives did not take part in the news conference. But the company issued a brief statement Wednesday repeating its position that Starliner could still be fixed to safely transport the astronauts. “We still believe in Starliner's capability and its flight rationale,” Boeing said.
波音公司的代表没有参加这场记者会。但该公司周三发表了一份简短声明，重申其立场，即星际客机仍可以修复以安全运输宇航员。波音公司表示：“我们仍然相信星际客机的能力及其飞行原理。”

The Boeing statement said if NASA did decide to change Starliner's mission, the company would "take the actions necessary to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return."
波音公司的声明称，如果美国航空航天局决定改变星际客机的任务，该公司将“采取必要行动配置星际客机进行无人返回。”

Steve Stich is the commercial crew program manager for NASA. He said the agency was not seriously considering launching a separate SpaceX flight to pick up Wilmore and Williams.
史蒂夫·斯蒂克是美国宇航局的商业载人项目经理。他说，该机构并没有开始认真考虑发射单独的龙飞船去接威尔莫尔和威廉姆斯。

Problems with thruster's seals
推进器密封件存在问题

Officials said tests run by Boeing and NASA on Earth have reproduced Starliner's thruster problems. This has suggested to engineers a possible issue with the thruster's seals. But Stich noted it was not clear what is causing the seal issues.
官员们表示，波音公司和美国宇航局在地球上进行的测试再现了星际客机的推进器问题。这一操作向工程师们表明了推进器密封件可能存在的问题。但斯蒂克指出，目前尚不清楚是什么导致了密封问题。

The thrusters are important for permitting Starliner to back away from the ISS during its separation operations. At the same time, engineers are seeking to find the cause of helium leaks in the spacecraft's propulsion system. The first leak happened before the launch, but more appeared during flight.
推进器对于允许星际客机在分离操作期间远离国际空间站非常重要。与此同时，工程师们正在寻找该航天器推进系统中氦气泄漏的原因。第一次泄漏发生在发射之前，但飞行过程中出现了更多的泄漏。

Boeing has faced repeated delays as it struggles to complete NASA's flight testing process before it can receive approval to start running official trips to the ISS.
波音公司的星际客机项目一再面临延误，因为它在获得批准开始正式前往国际空间站之前，很难完成美国宇航局的飞行测试程序。