波音及SpaceX將送美國宇航員赴國際空間站

Boeing and the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation are the winners in the competition to carry Americans astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA announced Tuesday.

美國航空航天局(NASA)本週二宣佈，在運送美國宇航員到國際空間站(International Space Station)項目的競爭中，波音(Boeing)和太空探索技術公司(Space Exploration Technologies Corporation)成爲了贏家。

The awards reflect a fundamental shift in NASA’s human spaceflight program, relying on private companies rather than the traditional hands-on approach, in which the space agency designed and operated the spacecraft.

此舉反映了NASA載人航天計劃中的一個根本性轉變，即把設計和運行航天器的任務外包給私人企業，而不是像以往那樣親力親爲。

The first flights could take off as soon as 2017.

該項目的首飛最早可於2017年開始。

“We have credible plans for both companies to get there by that period of time,” Kathryn Lueders, the manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said during a news conference on Tuesday. “We will not sacrifice crew safety for that goal.”

“我們有可靠的計劃，讓這兩家公司能如期提供服務，”在本週二的新聞發佈會上，NASA的商業乘務計劃經理凱瑟琳·呂德斯(Kathryn Lueders)表示。“我們不會爲了實現那個目標而罔顧機組人員的安全。”

Boeing received a $4.2 billion contract. Space Exploration Technologies — better known as SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif. — received a $2.6 billion contract.

波音公司獲得了一份42億美元（約合人民幣258億元）的合同。位於加州霍桑的太空探索技術公司獲得了一份26億美元的合同，該公司更廣爲人知的名字是SpaceX。

“Today we’re one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia,” said Charles F. Bolden Jr., the NASA administrator.

“我們希望在美國本土上用美國航天器運送宇航員，不再處於只能依靠俄羅斯的境地，今天我們向這個目標邁近了一步，”NASA負責人小查爾斯·博爾登(Charles F. Bolden Jr.)說。

Since the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011, NASA has had no way to send its astronauts to orbit, relying on the venerable Russian Soyuz spacecraft for transportation to and from the International Space Station at a cost of $70 million per seat.

自航天飛機在2011年退役後，NASA就無法自己將宇航員送入軌道，一直在依靠高齡的俄羅斯聯盟號(Soyuz)航天器往返國際空間站，每個座位的價格爲7000萬美元。

That became a politically uncomfortable arrangement after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

在俄羅斯吞併克里米亞，並支持烏克蘭的親俄分裂分子之後，再這麼做在政治上就不太妥當了。

John Mulholland, the commercial crew manager at Boeing, said NASA called just before the news conference to tell him his company had won the competition. “It was a real mixture of inspiration and humbleness,” he said.

波音公司乘務經理約翰·穆赫蘭(John Mulholland)表示，就在新聞發佈會開始之前，NASA致電告訴他，波音公司贏得了合同。“我感到既振奮又榮幸，”他說。

Under the contracts, Boeing and SpaceX will finish development of their spacecraft. Boeing’s CST-100 capsule, configured to carry up to five people, will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket. SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsule, a sleeker, updated version of the capsule already carrying cargo to the space station, will ride on top of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.

根據該合同，波音和SpaceX公司將完成各自的航天器研製。波音公司的CST-100太空艙最多可載五人，將通過阿特拉斯5型火箭(Atlas 5)發射。SpaceX公司的龍2型(Dragon 2)太空艙將使用該公司的獵鷹9號(Falcon 9)火箭發射，相比於已經用來運載貨物到空間站的太空艙，這個更新型號的外形更加美觀。

The bids from the two companies covered the same tasks. Boeing’s proposal was more expensive, in part because the Atlas 5 is more expensive than the Falcon 9. “We basically awarded based on the proposal that we were given,” Ms. Lueders said.

兩家公司爲同樣的任務進行了競標。波音公司的方案價格比較高，部分原因是阿特拉斯5型比獵鷹9號更昂貴。“我們基本上是依據方案來選取公司的，”呂德斯說。

A third company, Sierra Nevada Space Systems, of Louisville, Colo., had proposed a design that resembled a mini-space shuttle that would land on aircraft runways. A statement from the company said it would review its options.

內華達山脈太空系統(Sierra Nevada Space Systems)是參與競標的第三家公司，位於科羅拉多州路易斯維爾，它的設計方案是使用一架小型航天飛機，它能夠在飛機跑道上降落。該公司發表聲明，稱將檢視其手中的各個選項。

Much of the money allotted to SpaceX and Boeing in the next three years will go to meeting NASA’s certification requirements for performance and safety. As part of that process, each company will conduct a test flight to the space station with a crew that is to include at least one NASA astronaut.

未來三年內，在NASA撥付給SpaceX和波音公司資金中，將有很大一部分被用來滿足NASA對性能和安全認證的要求。作爲該過程的一部分，兩家公司將進行一次前往空間站的試飛，機組人員中將包含至少一名NASA宇航員。

Once the companies are certified, NASA has promised each at least two missions. The full contract amounts will be paid if NASA orders six missions from each company.

NASA已經承諾，只要兩家公司通過認證，每家公司至少能獲得兩次飛行任務。如果NASA給兩家公司各分配了六次飛行任務，它將按合同金額的全款支付費用。

Mr. Mulholland said NASA had yet to discuss its plans in detail, but space agency officials in the past have said they expected two flights a year to the space station. If flights begin in 2017 and each company flies one a year, the contracts could run through 2023.

穆赫蘭說，NASA還沒有就計劃進行詳細討論，但其官員之前曾表示，他們預計每年會飛往空間站兩次。如果從2017年開始，每家公司每年各承擔一次飛行任務，該合同將一直持續到2023年。

With each flight taking four astronauts, the space station crew will be able to grow to seven, from six. NASA officials said that additional crew member would allow it to double the amount of science conducted.

由於每次飛行可以運送四名宇航員，空間站中的人員就能從六名增加到七名。NASA官員說，新增一名成員之後，空間站的科學研究量可以翻倍。

The Boeing and SpaceX capsules will also serve as lifeboats for the space station crew in case of an emergency. The commercial crew program came out of the cancellation of an earlier program started under the Bush administration to send astronauts back to the moon.

如果出現緊急情況，波音和SpaceX公司的太空艙也可以作爲救生艇，供空間站人員使用。這個商業乘務計劃，是在之前一個派遣宇航員重返月球的計劃被取消後形成的，那個計劃始於布什執政期間。

That effort relied on two rockets designed and operated by NASA. The Obama administration concluded that approach was too expensive and canceled the rockets.

該計劃需要NASA設計和運行兩枚火箭，奧巴馬政府認爲它的成本過於高昂，於是取消了火箭項目。

Instead, the Obama administration built upon another Bush-era NASA initiative. NASA had hired two companies, SpaceX and the Orbital Sciences Corporation of Vienna, Va., to fly cargo to the space station. Beginning in 2010, NASA began a similar competition to choose companies to carry astronauts, not just cargo.

不過，奧巴馬政府推進了布什時代NASA的另一個項目。NASA僱用了兩家公司，SpaceX公司和弗吉尼亞州維也納的軌道科學公司(Orbital Sciences Corporation)，把貨物運送到空間站。從2010年開始，NASA採用類似做法，讓公司競標運送宇航員，而不僅僅是貨物，到空間站。

The hope is that the commercial approach will spur a space travel industry far larger than just NASA.

人們希望，這種商業模式不僅能促進NASA的發展，還將大大刺激空間旅遊業的規模擴張。

Boeing, for example, hopes that the fifth seat in its CST-100 capsule could carry a paying tourist to the space station. “We’ll be working with NASA to try and bring that to reality,” Mr. Mulholland said.

例如，波音公司希望利用CST-100太空艙的第五個座位，把付費遊客運送到空間站。“我們將與NASA合作，努力讓這個構想變爲現實，”穆赫蘭說。

Both Boeing and SpaceX are working with Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas company that plans to launch private space stations into orbit, to be leased to nations or companies.

波音和SpaceX公司正與拉斯維加斯的畢格羅宇航公司(Bigelow Aerospace)開展合作。該公司計劃把私人空間站送入軌道，供國家或公司租用。

“We’re going to be aggressive to cultivate the business beyond NASA,” said John Elbon, vice president and general manager for space exploration at Boeing.

“我們將積極進取地發展NASA之外的業務，”波音公司的太空探索副總裁兼總經理約翰·艾爾本(John Elbon)說。