Boeing's Starliner Prepares For ISS Departure, Crewless Landing In New Mexico Following 'Tense Technical Discussion' With NASA
Boeing's Starliner Prepares For ISS Departure, Crewless Landing In New Mexico Following 'Tense Technical Discussion' With NASA
Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA) Starliner is slated to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) without a crew later today after NASA decided to return the two astronauts who went to space aboard the spacecraft later on a SpaceX vehicle.
波音公司（NYSE:BA）的Starliner將在今天之後從國際空間站（ISS）上無人駕駛, 此前NASA決定稍後將兩名乘坐該航天器的宇航員送回地球，乘坐SpaceX航天器返回。
What Happened: The decision to return Boeing's Starliner spacecraft without a crew was a "tough" one, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program Steve Stich said on Wednesday.
發生了什麼：NASA商業航天計劃經理史蒂夫·斯蒂奇（Steve Stich）週三表示，決定讓波音公司的Starliner航天器無人駕駛返回地球是一個「艱難的」決定。
There was "some tension" in the last meeting between Boeing and the space agency on the decision, Stich said while adding that he would not characterize it as "heated."
在關於此決定的最後一次會議上，斯蒂奇表示，波音公司與NASA之間存在一些緊張氣氛，儘管他並沒有將其描述爲「激烈的」。
Boeing believed in its spacecraft's ability to return the astronauts safely but the NASA team found "limitations" on the company's modeling on thruster degradation for the remaining flight, Stich said.
斯蒂奇表示，波音公司相信其航天器能夠安全將宇航員帶回地球，但NASA團隊發現該公司對剩餘飛行的推進器退化建模存在「侷限性」。
"I wouldn't say it was a yelling, screaming kind of a meeting. It was a tense technical discussion where we had both sides listening intently to all the data and in the end make a decision whether to return crewed or uncrewed...," Stich said.
斯蒂奇表示：「我不會說那是一個咆哮、尖叫的會議。這是一個緊張的技術討論，兩邊都認真聽取所有數據，並最終做出決定，是返回有人駕駛還是無人駕駛...」。
Why It Matters: Last month, NASA announced that it would return Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore via a SpaceX vehicle in February.
爲何重要：上個月，NASA宣佈將在二月份通過SpaceX航天器將蘇尼塔·威廉姆斯（Sunita Williams）和布奇·威爾莫爾（Butch Wilmore）返航。
The two astronauts launched into space on June 5 aboard Starliner. Though the two were supposed to return in about eight days, technical issues identified with the spacecraft while docking, including helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters, delayed the return journey, and the agency subsequently decided to scrap bringing the astronauts back on the Boeing spacecraft altogether.
這兩名宇航員於6月5日乘坐Starliner航天器進入太空。儘管計劃在約8天內返回, 但在對接時發現了航天器的一些技術問題，包括氦氣泄漏和航天器姿控推進器問題，延遲了返航的時間，隨後NASA決定完全取消使用波音航天器將宇航員帶回地球。
The two will now return with Crew-9 astronauts in February. Crew 9 mission will launch to the space station no earlier than Sept. 24 with just two astronauts, instead of four as previously planned, to make space for Williams and Wilson on the return journey.
現在，他們將在2月份與第9組宇航員一同返回。第9組任務計劃最早於9月24日發射，僅有兩位宇航員，而不是之前計劃的四位，爲了爲Williams和Wilson在返航途中騰出空間。
The Starliner is now slated to undock from the space station on Sept. 6 at about 6 p.m. EDT and land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at about 12:03 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Starliner計劃於9月6日晚上6點左右從空間站分離，並於9月7日凌晨12:03在新墨西哥州的白沙空間港降落。
Starliner's return is expected to be safe and uneventful as the spacecraft has previously completed a successful uncrewed entry and landing as part of its previous flight tests.
預計Starliner的返回將安全且順利，因爲該飛船在以前的飛行測試中已經成功完成了無人駕駛的進入和着陸。
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
通過以下鏈接查看更多財經新聞《Benzinga智庫：移動出行未來》
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Photo courtesy: Flickr
照片提供：Flickr
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。