手机APP下载

您现在的位置: 首页 > 英语听力 > 国外媒体资讯 > 经济学人双语版 > 经济学人科技系列 > 正文

经济学人:太空旅行(1)

来源:经济学人 编辑:Ceciliya   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet
  


扫描二维码进行跟读打分训练

It looked for all the world like something that might have graced the cover of a 1950s comic book.

它看起来就像是装饰着20世纪50年代漫画书的封面一样。
On September 28th, on a warm Texas evening, Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX, a rocketry firm,
9月28日,在德克萨斯州的一个温暖的夜晚,火箭技术公司SpaceX的老板埃隆·马斯克
unveiled his company's newest machine, Starship Mk1. It stands 50 metres tall and is made from shiny plates of stainless steel.
展示了他公司的最新机器——Starship Mk1。它高50米,由闪闪发光的不锈钢板制成。
Despite its name, it is not in fact an interstellar spacecraft. But it is a prototype of an interplanetary one.
除了它的名字,它其实并不是星际飞船。但它是行星际宇宙飞船的原型。
Mr Musk hopes, one day, to use its successors to ferry passengers to the Moon or to Mars—
马斯克希望未来能使用它的成品将乘客送往月球或火星—
or perhaps even, according to one piece of SpaceX concept art, all the way to Saturn.
或者根据SpaceX的一幅概念图,将他们直接送往土星。
In the 17 years since its founding, SpaceX's cheap, reusable machines have revolutionised the rocket business.
自其成立以来的17年里,SpaceX廉价且可重复使用的机器彻底改变了火箭行业。
The firm's ultra-low prices have seen it grab a dominant share of the commercial satellite-launching market.
该公司的超低价格使其在商业卫星发射市场占据了主导地位。

太空旅行(1).jpg

Along with Boeing, an American aerospace giant, SpaceX is responsible for ferrying supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX和美国航空业巨头波音共同负责向国际空间站运送物资。
It may soon fly astronauts there as well. But all of this commercial success is merely a necessary first step in Mr Musk's bigger plan,
可能很快就要运送航天员。但所有这些商业成功仅仅是马斯克更宏伟计划的第一步,
which is to make humanity into a "multiplanetary species" by establishing colonies elsewhere in the solar system.
他计划在太阳系其他地方建立殖民地,让人类成为“跨星球物种”。
That is where the Starship comes in. The prototype on display in Texas is only one half of an enormous rocket stack
因此就有了Starship。德克萨斯州展出的原型只是一个巨大的火箭堆的一半,
designed with planetary colonisation in mind. When paired with a Falcon Super Heavy booster,
这个火箭堆的设计考虑到了行星殖民。搭配超级重型猎鹰助推器
which is also being developed, the result should be capable of lifting around 150 tonnes into orbit.
(也在研发当中),它应该能够将约150公吨的重量送入轨道。
That would make it the most powerful rocket ever built, squeaking ahead of the Saturn V,
这将使它成为有史以来最强大的火箭,超越在20世纪六七十年代
which propelled astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s.
将宇航员送上月球的土星5号运载火箭(Saturn V)。
And unlike the Saturn, whose three stages were abandoned to the sea or to space as their fuel was used up,
和土星5号不同的是,随着燃料耗尽,土星5号的三个段被遗弃在了海中或太空里,
the Starship and its booster will be reusable, which should keep costs down.
而Starship及其助推器将能够反复使用,因而降低了成本。
It is a bold plan. Mr Musk's shorter-term plans are bold too.
这是一个大胆的计划。马斯克的短期计划也很大胆。

译文由可可原创,仅供学习交流使用,未经许可请勿转载。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
humanity [hju:'mæniti]

想一想再看

n. 人类,人性,人道,慈爱,(复)人文学科

 
commercial [kə'mə:ʃəl]

想一想再看

adj. 商业的
n. 商业广告

联想记忆
prototype ['prəutətaip]

想一想再看

n. 原型,雏形

 
comic ['kɔmik]

想一想再看

n. 连环图画,喜剧演员,喜剧元素
adj.

联想记忆
dominant ['dɔminənt]

想一想再看

adj. 占优势的,主导的,显性的
n. 主宰

 
enormous [i'nɔ:məs]

想一想再看

adj. 巨大的,庞大的

联想记忆
interview ['intəvju:]

想一想再看

n. 接见,会见,面试,面谈
vt. 接见,采

 
spacecraft ['speiskrɑ:ft]

想一想再看

n. 宇宙飞船

 
capable ['keipəbl]

想一想再看

adj. 有能力的,足以胜任的,有 ... 倾向的

 
bold [bəuld]

想一想再看

adj. 大胆的,粗体的,醒目的,无礼的,陡峭的

 

发布评论我来说2句

    最新文章

    可可英语官方微信(微信号:ikekenet)

    每天向大家推送短小精悍的英语学习资料.

    添加方式1.扫描上方可可官方微信二维码。
    添加方式2.搜索微信号ikekenet添加即可。