埃隆·馬斯克(Elon Musk)希望通過更便宜地發射火箭,為納稅人節省數百億美元。在過去的幾年裡,他一直在研究這個問題。最開始,他試驗一枚「蚱蜢」火箭,看看有沒有可能把它發射出去,然後再把火箭的一部分安全降落。隨後,SpaceX將「蚱蜢」火箭放大,製成可重複使用的「獵鷹9號」(Falcon 9)火箭,獵鷹9號火箭已成為太空發射的中流砥柱。接下來發明了可回收和可重複使用的太空艙,最後是裝備了巨大漁網的船隻,以便在火箭墜海前捕捉其整流罩。
但他還沒有完成。現在他正在建造一枚100%可重複使用的火箭。幾乎接近完成。2月2日,SpaceX公司進行了第二次高空飛行測試,測試的是一種全新的100%可重複使用的火箭——「星際飛船」。「SN9」飛船模型飛到空中10公裡,然後側轉,再降落10公裡,再次旋轉試圖垂直著陸,但著陸失敗。好消息是,SpaceX已經有了解決這個問題的「明確方案」(在著陸時點燃三個引擎,而不是兩個)。
總而言之,SpaceX公司預計將快速連續測試多達20個SN原型機,最終為其中一個配備6個猛禽引擎(目前測試版本只使用3個引擎)並將其送入軌道。在今年,我們很有可能看到一艘星際飛船在軌道上運行。
到那時,SpaceX將成為地球上唯一一家擁有完全可回收、完全可重複使用的太空火箭的公司——不僅如此,而是地球上最大的太空火箭,能夠將100多噸貨物送入軌道。
SpaceX將擁有一枚只需要加油就可以反覆使用的火箭,使發射成本下降到加滿油箱的成本。而且SpaceX可以開始逐步淘汰自己的「獵鷹9」和「獵鷹重型」火箭,以及著陸駁船、整流罩捕捉器和所有其他零零散散地回收火箭部件的基礎設施。
SpaceX Just Crashed Another Rocket — and That’s Great NewsRich Smith
Feb 13, 2021
Elon Musk wants to save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars by launching rockets cheaper.
For the past several years he’s been working on the problem. First he was toying around with a 「Grasshopper」 rocket to see if it might be possible to launch and then safely reland part of a rocket. SpaceX then scaled up Grasshopper into the reusable Falcon 9 rockets that have become a mainstay of space launch, landing some on dry ground and others at sea. Next came the invention of recoverable and reusable space capsules, and finally boats outfitted with giant nets to capture falling rocket fairings[1] before they fall into the sea.
Step by step, Musk has learned to recover the bulk of the value of each rocket launched, saving money by not having to rebuild more and more parts and, instead, using them over and over again.
But he’s not done yet. Now he’s building a rocket that is 100% reusable. And it’s almost ready for prime time.
The first and last flight of Starship SN9
On Tuesday, Feb. 2, SpaceX conducted its second-ever high-altitude flight test for a new 100% reusable rocket — the Starship. Over the course of 6 minutes and 26 exciting seconds, Starship model 「SN9」 flew 10 kilometers up into the air, turned sideways, fell 10 kilometers back down, pivoted again to attempt a vertical landing[2] — and failed to stick the landing[3].
Descending too fast, and touching down more diagonal than vertical, SN9 exploded in a ball of flame on impact. In doing so, it duplicated the fate of its predecessor prototype, the SN8, which had actually come closer to landing successfully in its test flight back on Dec. 9.
Why did the SN9 fail? How did it actually seem to perform worse than the SN8? See for yourself:
For one thing, the SN9’s engines waited three seconds longer to reignite for its landing burn last week than the SN8 did two months ago. Making matters worse, says SpaceX, 「one Raptor engine did not relight at all, causing SN9 to land at high speed」 (and off kilter[4]).
If at first (and second) you don’t succeed, do you give up?
So in sum, SpaceX tweaked its landing process for the SN9, but a mechanical difficulty prevented this new approach from working — this time. The good news is that SpaceX already has 「a clear solution」 to the problem (firing three engines in the landing burn instead of two).
That said, the ship landing burn has a clear solution. My greatest concern is achieving good payload to orbit with rapid & full reusability, without which we shall forever be confined to Earth.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2021
It was foolish of us not to start 3 engines & immediately shut down 1, as 2 are needed to land
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2021
Within hours of the SN9 blowing up, SpaceX has already figured out how to do better next time. And there will definitely be a next time — perhaps sooner than you think.
Consider: The SN8 ran its test flight on Dec. 9, 2020. Less than two months later, SpaceX was ready to try again with the SN9. And in the photo up above, you may have noticed that SpaceX already has a third Starship rocket lined up for its turn to try — the SN10. (And an SN11 is under construction as we speak.)
What happens next?
In total, SpaceX expects to go through as many as twenty SN- prototypes in rapid succession before finally outfitting one with a full complement of six Raptor engines (these test versions only use three) and sending it to orbit. So even with the SN9 in smithereens[5], this implies the company is nearly halfway done with its testing.
With the pace of test launches accelerating, it seems likely that before this year is out, we could see a Starship in orbit.
What happens then?
At that point, SpaceX will be the only company on Earth possessing a fully recoverable, fully reusable space rocket[6] — and not just that, but the biggest space rocket on the planet, capable of lifting more than 100 tons of cargo to orbit.
I don’t think it’s overstating things to say that once this happens, the world will change.
All of a sudden, SpaceX will possess a rocket that, once built, needs little more than refueling before it can be reused over and over again, driving the cost of space launch down toward the cost of filling up the tank. Most everyone trying to compete with SpaceX, though — and I’m thinking particularly of Boeing and Lockheed Martin and their United Launch Alliance joint venture here — will still be using more expensive expendable rockets. That, or they』ll be racing to catch up with SpaceX, as Arianespace in Europe, Linkspace in China, and Roscosmos in Russia are doing.
注友新聞
注釋[1] fairings注釋:整流罩
備註:美 [feərɪŋ]
n. [航][船] 整流罩;集市上賣的禮物;酬謝禮品
v. 天氣轉晴;銜接協調;裝配平整(fair的ing形式)
注釋:再次旋轉,試圖垂直降落
[3] failed to stick the landing注釋:未能成功著陸
[4] off kilter注釋:失去平衡
備註:slightly off kilter
稍稍失準的
注釋:碎片
備註:美 [ˌsmɪðəˈriːnz]
[6] a fully recoverable, fully reusable space rocket注釋:一種完全可回收,完全可重複使用的太空火箭
SpaceX Just Crashed Another Rocket — and Thats Great News(2)And even those rockets will be a generation behind SpaceX, being only partially reusable (similar to the Falcon 9).
While its competitors catch up to the last generation of reusable rockets, meanwhile, SpaceX can begin phasing out its own Falcon 9s and Falcon Heavies — and the landing barges[1], fairing catchers, and all the other infrastructure needed to recapture its rocket parts piecemeal. Its overhead costs will go down, its cost of doing business will go down, and SpaceX will be able to underprice[2] each and every company it competes with, dominating the space industry for years to come.
注友新聞
注釋[1] landing barges注釋:著陸駁船
[2] underprice注釋:壓價競爭
備註:美 [ʌndəpraɪs]
v. 將定價調低;削價搶生意;殺價銷售,壓價競爭;要價過低