波音及SpaceX将送美国宇航员赴国际空间站

Boeing and the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation are the winners in the competition to carry Americans astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA announced Tuesday.

美国航空航天局(NASA)本周二宣布，在运送美国宇航员到国际空间站(International Space Station)项目的竞争中，波音(Boeing)和太空探索技术公司(Space Exploration Technologies Corporation)成为了赢家。

The awards reflect a fundamental shift in NASA’s human spaceflight program, relying on private companies rather than the traditional hands-on approach, in which the space agency designed and operated the spacecraft.

此举反映了NASA载人航天计划中的一个根本性转变，即把设计和运行航天器的任务外包给私人企业，而不是像以往那样亲力亲为。

The first flights could take off as soon as 2017.

该项目的首飞最早可于2017年开始。

“We have credible plans for both companies to get there by that period of time,” Kathryn Lueders, the manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said during a news conference on Tuesday. “We will not sacrifice crew safety for that goal.”

“我们有可靠的计划，让这两家公司能如期提供服务，”在本周二的新闻发布会上，NASA的商业乘务计划经理凯瑟琳·吕德斯(Kathryn Lueders)表示。“我们不会为了实现那个目标而罔顾机组人员的安全。”

Boeing received a $4.2 billion contract. Space Exploration Technologies — better known as SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif. — received a $2.6 billion contract.

波音公司获得了一份42亿美元（约合人民币258亿元）的合同。位于加州霍桑的太空探索技术公司获得了一份26亿美元的合同，该公司更广为人知的名字是SpaceX。

“Today we’re one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia,” said Charles F. Bolden Jr., the NASA administrator.

“我们希望在美国本土上用美国航天器运送宇航员，不再处于只能依靠俄罗斯的境地，今天我们向这个目标迈近了一步，”NASA负责人小查尔斯·博尔登(Charles F. Bolden Jr.)说。

Since the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011, NASA has had no way to send its astronauts to orbit, relying on the venerable Russian Soyuz spacecraft for transportation to and from the International Space Station at a cost of $70 million per seat.

自航天飞机在2011年退役后，NASA就无法自己将宇航员送入轨道，一直在依靠高龄的俄罗斯联盟号(Soyuz)航天器往返国际空间站，每个座位的价格为7000万美元。

That became a politically uncomfortable arrangement after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

在俄罗斯吞并克里米亚，并支持乌克兰的亲俄分裂分子之后，再这么做在政治上就不太妥当了。

John Mulholland, the commercial crew manager at Boeing, said NASA called just before the news conference to tell him his company had won the competition. “It was a real mixture of inspiration and humbleness,” he said.

波音公司乘务经理约翰·穆赫兰(John Mulholland)表示，就在新闻发布会开始之前，NASA致电告诉他，波音公司赢得了合同。“我感到既振奋又荣幸，”他说。

Under the contracts, Boeing and SpaceX will finish development of their spacecraft. Boeing’s CST-100 capsule, configured to carry up to five people, will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket. SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsule, a sleeker, updated version of the capsule already carrying cargo to the space station, will ride on top of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.

根据该合同，波音和SpaceX公司将完成各自的航天器研制。波音公司的CST-100太空舱最多可载五人，将通过阿特拉斯5型火箭(Atlas 5)发射。SpaceX公司的龙2型(Dragon 2)太空舱将使用该公司的猎鹰9号(Falcon 9)火箭发射，相比于已经用来运载货物到空间站的太空舱，这个更新型号的外形更加美观。

The bids from the two companies covered the same tasks. Boeing’s proposal was more expensive, in part because the Atlas 5 is more expensive than the Falcon 9. “We basically awarded based on the proposal that we were given,” Ms. Lueders said.

两家公司为同样的任务进行了竞标。波音公司的方案价格比较高，部分原因是阿特拉斯5型比猎鹰9号更昂贵。“我们基本上是依据方案来选取公司的，”吕德斯说。

A third company, Sierra Nevada Space Systems, of Louisville, Colo., had proposed a design that resembled a mini-space shuttle that would land on aircraft runways. A statement from the company said it would review its options.

内华达山脉太空系统(Sierra Nevada Space Systems)是参与竞标的第三家公司，位于科罗拉多州路易斯维尔，它的设计方案是使用一架小型航天飞机，它能够在飞机跑道上降落。该公司发表声明，称将检视其手中的各个选项。

Much of the money allotted to SpaceX and Boeing in the next three years will go to meeting NASA’s certification requirements for performance and safety. As part of that process, each company will conduct a test flight to the space station with a crew that is to include at least one NASA astronaut.

未来三年内，在NASA拨付给SpaceX和波音公司资金中，将有很大一部分被用来满足NASA对性能和安全认证的要求。作为该过程的一部分，两家公司将进行一次前往空间站的试飞，机组人员中将包含至少一名NASA宇航员。

Once the companies are certified, NASA has promised each at least two missions. The full contract amounts will be paid if NASA orders six missions from each company.

NASA已经承诺，只要两家公司通过认证，每家公司至少能获得两次飞行任务。如果NASA给两家公司各分配了六次飞行任务，它将按合同金额的全款支付费用。

Mr. Mulholland said NASA had yet to discuss its plans in detail, but space agency officials in the past have said they expected two flights a year to the space station. If flights begin in 2017 and each company flies one a year, the contracts could run through 2023.

穆赫兰说，NASA还没有就计划进行详细讨论，但其官员之前曾表示，他们预计每年会飞往空间站两次。如果从2017年开始，每家公司每年各承担一次飞行任务，该合同将一直持续到2023年。

With each flight taking four astronauts, the space station crew will be able to grow to seven, from six. NASA officials said that additional crew member would allow it to double the amount of science conducted.

由于每次飞行可以运送四名宇航员，空间站中的人员就能从六名增加到七名。NASA官员说，新增一名成员之后，空间站的科学研究量可以翻倍。

The Boeing and SpaceX capsules will also serve as lifeboats for the space station crew in case of an emergency. The commercial crew program came out of the cancellation of an earlier program started under the Bush administration to send astronauts back to the moon.

如果出现紧急情况，波音和SpaceX公司的太空舱也可以作为救生艇，供空间站人员使用。这个商业乘务计划，是在之前一个派遣宇航员重返月球的计划被取消后形成的，那个计划始于布什执政期间。

That effort relied on two rockets designed and operated by NASA. The Obama administration concluded that approach was too expensive and canceled the rockets.

该计划需要NASA设计和运行两枚火箭，奥巴马政府认为它的成本过于高昂，于是取消了火箭项目。

Instead, the Obama administration built upon another Bush-era NASA initiative. NASA had hired two companies, SpaceX and the Orbital Sciences Corporation of Vienna, Va., to fly cargo to the space station. Beginning in 2010, NASA began a similar competition to choose companies to carry astronauts, not just cargo.

不过，奥巴马政府推进了布什时代NASA的另一个项目。NASA雇用了两家公司，SpaceX公司和弗吉尼亚州维也纳的轨道科学公司(Orbital Sciences Corporation)，把货物运送到空间站。从2010年开始，NASA采用类似做法，让公司竞标运送宇航员，而不仅仅是货物，到空间站。

The hope is that the commercial approach will spur a space travel industry far larger than just NASA.

人们希望，这种商业模式不仅能促进NASA的发展，还将大大刺激空间旅游业的规模扩张。

Boeing, for example, hopes that the fifth seat in its CST-100 capsule could carry a paying tourist to the space station. “We’ll be working with NASA to try and bring that to reality,” Mr. Mulholland said.

例如，波音公司希望利用CST-100太空舱的第五个座位，把付费游客运送到空间站。“我们将与NASA合作，努力让这个构想变为现实，”穆赫兰说。

Both Boeing and SpaceX are working with Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas company that plans to launch private space stations into orbit, to be leased to nations or companies.

波音和SpaceX公司正与拉斯维加斯的毕格罗宇航公司(Bigelow Aerospace)开展合作。该公司计划把私人空间站送入轨道，供国家或公司租用。

“We’re going to be aggressive to cultivate the business beyond NASA,” said John Elbon, vice president and general manager for space exploration at Boeing.

“我们将积极进取地发展NASA之外的业务，”波音公司的太空探索副总裁兼总经理约翰·艾尔本(John Elbon)说。