SpaceX将首批平民游客送上太空 将绕地球飞行三天 SpaceX launches world’s first ‘amateur astronaut’ crew to orbit Earth

美国东部时间9月15日20时，SpaceX公司用猎鹰9号火箭发射载人龙飞船，将4名平民乘客送往太空，开展为期三天的绕地球之旅。这是SpaceX首次全民用、纯商业太空飞行，龙飞船上没有任何专业宇航员。

SpaceX has launched the world’s first crew of “amateur astronauts” on a private flight to circle Earth for three days.

太空探索公司SpaceX日前将全球第一批“业余宇航员”送上太空，他们将乘坐私人太空飞船环绕地球飞行三天。

Wednesday night’s successful launch marked the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It’s the first chartered passenger flight for Elon Musk’s space company and the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with a crew that contained no professional astronauts.

9月15日晚SpaceX太空船的成功发射标志着太空旅游业有史以来最野心勃勃的一次飞跃。这是埃隆·马斯克的太空公司的首次私人包机旅行，也是火箭第一次将没有专业宇航员的机组人员送入轨道。

Leading the flight is Jared Isaacman, 38, who made his fortune with a payment-processing company he started in his teens. Isaacman is the third billionaire to launch this summer, following flights by Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson and Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos in July.

这次飞行的领头人是38岁的贾里德·艾萨克曼，他十几岁就创立了支付处理公司并靠此发家致富。艾萨克曼是今夏继维珍银河公司的理查德·布兰森和蓝色起源公司的杰夫·贝索斯之后第三位进行太空旅行的亿万富翁。

Isaacman is joined by Hayley Arceneaux, 29, a childhood cancer survivor who works as a physician assistant at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Isaacman has pledged $100m of his own money to the hospital and is seeking another $100m in donations.

同行的还有29岁的海莉·阿西诺，这位童年曾患癌症的幸存者在美国田纳西州孟菲斯市的圣犹大儿童研究医院做助理医师。艾萨克曼承诺向这家医院捐赠1亿美元的个人财产，而且正在筹集另外1亿美元捐款。

Also along for the ride are Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington, and Sian Proctor, 51, a community college educator in Tempe, Arizona.

一起乘坐飞船的还有42岁的克里斯·森布罗斯基和51岁的西恩・普罗科特。克里斯是华盛顿州埃弗里特市的一名数据工程师，西恩是亚利桑那州坦佩市的一名社区学院教育工作者。

Arceneaux is set to become the youngest American in space and the first person in space with a prosthesis, a titanium rod in her left leg.

海莉将成为进入太空最年轻的美国人，以及首位携带假体进入太空的人。她的左腿植入了一块钛合金人工骨材。

The passengers will spend three days orbiting Earth at an unusually high altitude of 357 miles (575km) – 100 miles (160km) higher than the International Space Station – before splashing down off the Florida coast this weekend.

他们将在357英里（575千米）的惊人高度绕地球飞行三天，并于本周末在佛罗里达海岸着陆。这个飞行高度比国际空间站还要高100英里（160千米）。

Isaacman, an accomplished pilot, persuaded SpaceX to take the Dragon capsule higher than it’s ever been. Initially reluctant because of the increased radiation exposure and other risks, SpaceX agreed after a safety review.

飞行经验丰富的艾萨克曼说服SpaceX公司让龙飞船升到前所未有的高度。考虑到遭受的辐射量增大和其他风险，SpaceX公司一开始不愿意，后来在进行安全审查之后还是同意了。

Isaacman is picking up the entire tab for the flight but won’t say how many millions he paid.

这次太空之旅的费用全都由艾萨克曼负责，但是他不愿透露自己花了多少钱。

Though the capsule is automated, the four Dragon riders spent six months training for the flight to cope with any emergency. That training included centrifuge and fighter jet flights, launch and re-entry practice in SpaceX’s capsule simulator and a grueling trek up Washington’s Mount Rainier in the snow.

尽管龙飞船是自动驾驶，不过四名乘客还是接受了6个月的飞行培训来应对任何紧急状况。这些培训包括离心机和战斗机飞行、在SpaceX飞船模拟器内进行发射和重返大气层练习，以及在华盛顿瑞尼尔山的一次艰苦的雪中徒步旅行。

Four hours before liftoff, the four emerged from SpaceX’s huge rocket hangar, waving and blowing kisses to their families and company employees, before they were driven off to get into their sleek white flight suits. Once at the launch pad, they posed for pictures and bumped gloved fists, before taking the elevator up. Proctor danced as she made her way to the hatch.

在飞船发射前四小时，这四个人从SpaceX巨大的火箭机库出来，向家人和公司职员招手、飞吻，然后就被送去换上光滑洁白的航天服。到达发射台后，他们合影留念、戴着手套碰了碰拳头，就乘坐电梯上去了。西恩在走向舱口时还跳起舞来。

SpaceX’s next private trip, early next year, will see a retired Nasa astronaut escorting three wealthy businessmen to the space station for a weeklong visit.

SpaceX公司将于明年年初开展下一次私人太空之旅，届时一名退休的美国航空航天局宇航员将会陪同三名富商到空间站进行为期一周的旅行。

英文来源：卫报

翻译&编辑：丹妮