Tue, Aug 30, 2022 page14

• NASA tests new moon rocket, 50 years after Apollo 登月五十年後 美國試飛新火箭重返月球

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Years late and billions over budget, NASA’s new moon rocket makes its debut this week in a high-stakes test flight before astronauts get on top.

  The 98m (322ft) rocket will attempt to send an empty crew capsule into a far-flung lunar orbit, 50 years after NASA’s famed Apollo moonshots. If all goes well, astronauts could strap in as soon as 2024 for a lap around the moon, with NASA aiming to land two people on the lunar surface by the end of 2025. Liftoff is set for Monday morning at 8:33am to 10:33am EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

  ROCKET POWER

  

  The moon sets in front of the NASA Artemis rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard on pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on June 15 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. With liftoff planned for Aug. 29 at 8:33am to 10:33am EDT (12:33pm to 2:33pm UCT), the 98m rocket will attempt to send an empty crew capsule into a far-flung lunar orbit. 月落時分，搭載獵戶座太空船的美國太空總署阿提米絲火箭，停靠在甘迺迪太空中心39B發射台上。六月十五日攝於美國佛羅里達州卡納維拉爾角。火箭預訂於美東時間八月二十九日上午八點三十三分至十點三十三分（台灣時間八月二十九日晚上八點三十三分至十點三十三分）之間升空，這九十八公尺長的火箭，將嘗試把空的載人艙送上繞月軌道遠端。

  Photo: AP 照片：美聯社

  The new rocket is shorter and slimmer than the Saturn V rockets that hurled 24 Apollo astronauts to the moon a half-century ago. But it’s mightier, packing 4 million kilograms (8.8 million pounds) of thrust.

  Unlike the streamlined Saturn V, the new rocket has a pair of strap-on boosters refashioned from NASA’s space shuttles. The boosters will peel away after two minutes, just like the shuttle boosters did, but won’t be fished from the Atlantic for reuse. The core stage will keep firing before separating and crashing into the Pacific in pieces. Two hours after liftoff, an upper stage will send the capsule, Orion, racing toward the moon.

  MOONSHIP

  

  A comparison of the size and thrust of Saturn V, the new moon rocket called the Space Launch System, or SLS, and the space shuttle. 土農神五號、新型登月火箭「太空發射系統」（或稱SLS）、太空梭之大小及推力之比較。

  Photo: AP 照片：美聯社

  NASA’s high-tech, automated Orion capsule is named after the constellation, among the night sky’s brightest. At 3m (11ft) tall, it’s roomier than Apollo’s capsule, seating four astronauts instead of three. For this test flight, a full-size dummy in an orange flight suit will occupy the commander’s seat, rigged with vibration and acceleration sensors. Two other mannequins made of material simulating human tissue — heads and female torsos, but no limbs — will measure cosmic radiation, one of the biggest risks of spaceflight. One torso is testing a protective vest from Israel.

  FLIGHT PLAN

  Orion’s flight is supposed to last six weeks from its Florida liftoff to Pacific splashdown — twice as long as astronaut trips in order to tax the systems. It will take nearly a week to reach the moon, 386,000km away.

  The big test comes at mission’s end, as Orion hits the atmosphere at 40,000 kph on its way to a splashdown in the Pacific. The heat shield uses the same material as the Apollo capsules to withstand reentry temperatures of 2,750 degrees Celsius. But the advanced design anticipates the faster, hotter returns by future Mars crews.

  (AP)

  遲來數年、預算超出數十億美元的美國太空總署（NASA）新型登月火箭，本週將首次啟航，進行一次高風險的試飛，以便為搭載太空人做準備。

  在NASA著名的阿波羅登月計畫五十年後，這九十八公尺（三百二十二英尺）長的火箭，將嘗試把一個空的載人太空艙送入環月軌道遠端。如果一切順利，太空人最早可在二〇二四年啟程，環繞月球一圈；NASA的目標是在二〇二五年底前，將兩個人送上月球表面登陸。火箭預定在美東時間週一上午八點三十三分至十點三十三分之間自NASA甘迺迪太空中心發射。

  火箭動力

  新型火箭比半世紀前將二十四名阿波羅計畫太空人送上月球的火箭農神五號更短、更細，但更強大，具有四百萬公斤（八百八十萬磅）的推力。

  與流線型的農神五號不同，新型火箭有一對安裝在外的推進器，是由NASA太空梭改造而來的設計。推進器將在升空後兩分鐘脫落，如同太空梭的推進器，但不會再把它從大西洋打撈上來重複使用。核心節則將繼續前進，然後分離、墜入太平洋碎裂。升空兩小時後，火箭的上節將全速把獵戶座太空船送往月球。

  登月船

  NASA的高科技自動化太空船獵戶座，是以夜空最亮的星座為名。它高三公尺（十一英尺），比阿波羅計畫的太空艙更寬敞，可乘坐四名太空人，而非三名。這次的試飛中，一個身著橙色飛行服的真人尺寸假人將置於指揮官座位，配備振動與加速度感測器。另外還有兩個以仿人體組織材料所製成的假人──有頭部和女性軀幹，但沒有四肢──將用來測量宇宙輻射；宇宙輻射是太空飛行最大的風險之一。另一軀幹則是測試一件以色列製的防護背心。

  航行計畫

  獵戶座太空船預計航行六週，始自佛羅里達升空，終至濺落太平洋，是太空人旅行時間的兩倍，以便檢驗及評估系統。到達三十八萬六千公里外的月球，需要將近一週的時間。

  大考驗是在任務結束時，獵戶座太空船會以每小時四萬公里的速度撞擊大氣層，掉落在太平洋。隔熱罩所使用的材料與阿波羅計畫的太空船相同，可承受再進入大氣層的高溫攝氏兩千七百五十度。但此先進的設計已預想了未來火星任務人員返回時更快的速度，以及更熱的溫度。

  （台北時報林俐凱編譯）
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Napoli’s title hopes shaken by late Genoa equalizer

  • 2

    Privately owned city in Kenya taking on corrupt officials

  • 3

    MOE to encourage foreigners to work in Taiwan

  • 4

    Kane tastes first title as Bayern bid farewell to Mueller

  • 5

    Taiwan celebrates V-E Day for first time