NASA assigns crew for Artemis III, sets aggressive timeline for flying it
NASA assigns crew for Artemis III, sets aggressive timeline for flying it
NASA公布阿尔忒弥斯3号任务乘组，并设定激进的飞行时间表
The US space agency unveiled the crew for its Artemis III mission on Tuesday during an enthusiastic event at Johnson Space Center in Houston. For this spaceflight into low-Earth orbit, which will see the Orion spacecraft rendezvous and dock with lunar lander prototypes, NASA chose an experienced, all-male crew with military backgrounds. 美国国家航空航天局（NASA）周二在休斯顿约翰逊航天中心举行的一场热烈的活动中，公布了阿尔忒弥斯3号（Artemis III）任务的乘组名单。此次低地球轨道飞行任务将实现猎户座（Orion）飞船与月球着陆器原型的交会对接，NASA为此挑选了一支经验丰富、全由具有军事背景的男性组成的乘组。
They were revealed inside a darkened Teague Auditorium where hundreds of friends, family members, and NASA employees cheered enthusiastically. The four crew members are: NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, commander; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, pilot; NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist; NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist. 乘组在灯光昏暗的蒂格礼堂（Teague Auditorium）中亮相，数百名亲友和NASA员工在现场热烈欢呼。四名乘组成员分别是：指令长、NASA宇航员兰迪·布雷斯尼克（Randy Bresnik）；飞行员、欧洲航天局（ESA）宇航员卢卡·帕尔米塔诺（Luca Parmitano）；任务专家、NASA宇航员安德烈·道格拉斯（Andre Douglas）；以及任务专家、NASA宇航员弗兰克·卢比奥（Frank Rubio）。
The Artemis III test flight will serve as a bridge between the recent Artemis II lunar flyby mission, which was successfully completed in April, and a planned lunar landing with the Artemis IV mission. “We are the unifying link between Artemis II and Artemis IV,” Bresnik said Tuesday. 阿尔忒弥斯3号测试飞行将作为今年4月圆满完成的阿尔忒弥斯2号绕月飞行任务，与计划中的阿尔忒弥斯4号登月任务之间的桥梁。“我们是连接阿尔忒弥斯2号和4号的纽带，”布雷斯尼克周二表示。
Reducing risks for lunar landings
降低登月风险
NASA added this low-Earth orbit Artemis mission several months ago after new Administrator Jared Isaacman decided the agency needed to “buy down risk” before putting humans on the Moon. And that is the goal with Artemis III, an approximately two-week mission due to launch no earlier than summer 2027. 几个月前，在新任局长贾里德·艾萨克曼（Jared Isaacman）决定NASA在载人登月前需要“降低风险”后，NASA增加了这项低地球轨道的阿尔忒弥斯任务。这正是阿尔忒弥斯3号的目标，该任务预计持续约两周，最早将于2027年夏季发射。
Space agency officials outlined plans for the flight on Tuesday, which will include three separate launches and nominally two dockings in low-Earth orbit. The first launch will be a Blue Origin “lander test vehicle” that will have the capability to loiter in orbit for up to 90 days. Then the four Artemis III astronauts will launch inside the Orion spacecraft on top of a Space Launch System rocket. The crew will subsequently rendezvous with the Blue Moon lander, dock, and enter the Blue Origin vehicle. On board the crew will test out the life support systems on Blue Moon and perform other functions. Orion will control the combined vehicles in flight. NASA官员周二概述了飞行计划，其中包括三次独立发射和名义上的两次低地球轨道对接。首次发射将是蓝色起源（Blue Origin）的“着陆器测试飞行器”，它具备在轨道上停留长达90天的能力。随后，四名阿尔忒弥斯3号宇航员将乘坐安装在太空发射系统（SLS）火箭顶部的猎户座飞船升空。乘组随后将与“蓝月”（Blue Moon）着陆器交会、对接并进入蓝色起源的飞行器。在舱内，乘组将测试“蓝月”的生命支持系统并执行其他功能，猎户座飞船将在飞行中控制组合体。
Around this time the third launch will occur of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. This will send a Starship—which is unlikely to be modified with more than a docking adapter—into orbit. After the Artemis crew undocks with Blue Moon they will then rendezvous and dock with the Starship vehicle. However, this vehicle will not include life support equipment, and therefore the crew will not enter Starship. Following all of this, the Artemis III crew will undock from Starship and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. 与此同时，第三次发射将是SpaceX的星舰（Starship）火箭。此次发射将把一艘星舰送入轨道，该星舰除加装对接适配器外，不太可能进行其他改装。在阿尔忒弥斯乘组与“蓝月”分离后，他们将与星舰进行交会对接。然而，由于该飞行器不配备生命支持设备，乘组不会进入星舰内部。完成这一切后，阿尔忒弥斯3号乘组将与星舰分离，并在太平洋溅落。
If successful the mission will have demonstrated the ability of Orion to perform proximity operations with the two lunar landers, test flying in a “stack,” and provide NASA some comfort about the complicated maneuvers that will be needed during Artemis IV, when a crew will dock with a lunar lander, go to the Moon, and then return to Earth in Orion. “Artemis III will be an extraordinary demonstration of what is possible,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during the crew announcement event. 如果任务成功，将证明猎户座飞船与两款月球着陆器进行近距离操作的能力，测试“堆叠”飞行，并为NASA在阿尔忒弥斯4号任务中所需的复杂机动提供信心——届时乘组将与月球着陆器对接、前往月球，并乘坐猎户座返回地球。“阿尔忒弥斯3号将是对未来可能性的非凡展示，”NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼在乘组宣布活动中说道。
An aggressive timeline
激进的时间表
After the four astronauts were revealed, Isaacman spoke with reporters for a few minutes. He reiterated he is “extremely” confident in the timeline for a 2027 Artemis III launch, as well as a 2028 lunar landing. Americans, he said, should expect excellence from their space agency. However these timelines have generally been regarded as aggressive by space industry experts, who are more accustomed to NASA moving at a lumbering pace. 在四名宇航员亮相后，艾萨克曼与记者进行了简短交流。他重申，他对2027年发射阿尔忒弥斯3号以及2028年实现登月的时间表“极其”有信心。他说，美国人应该对他们的航天机构抱有卓越的期待。然而，航天业专家普遍认为这些时间表过于激进，因为他们更习惯于NASA缓慢的节奏。
The prospect of flying Artemis III next year was further clouded by the May 28 explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at the vehicle’s only launch pad in Florida, causing catastrophic damage to the facilities there. The New Glenn rocket is optimized to launch the Blue Moon landers under development by Blue Origin. The space company founded by Jeff Bezos has said it expects to return New Glenn to flight before the end of this year, but most experts have told Ars that the timeline is more likely to be 12 to 18 months. 5月28日，蓝色起源的新格伦（New Glenn）火箭在佛罗里达州唯一的发射台发生爆炸，对设施造成了灾难性破坏，这使得明年执行阿尔忒弥斯3号任务的前景蒙上了阴影。新格伦火箭是为发射蓝色起源正在开发的“蓝月”着陆器而优化的。杰夫·贝索斯创立的这家航天公司表示，预计在今年年底前恢复新格伦火箭的飞行，但大多数专家告诉《Ars Technica》，这一时间表更可能需要12到18个月。
During the crew announcement event, NASA officials stressed that they expected New Glenn to be ready next year to launch Blue Moon for the Artemis III mission and continue building up capabilities (including a larger and more powerful variant of the New Glenn rocket) needed to support a lunar landing. 在乘组宣布活动中，NASA官员强调，他们预计新格伦火箭明年将准备就绪，能够为阿尔忒弥斯3号任务发射“蓝月”着陆器，并继续构建支持登月所需的各项能力（包括更大、动力更强的新格伦火箭变体）。
What if the landers are not ready?
如果着陆器没准备好怎么办？
NASA faces significant challenges to bring about the Artemis III mission next year and to complete a series of test objectives involving the interaction between Orion and the two lunar lander prototypes. So what happens if the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are ready next summer, but one or both of the landers is not? Isaacman said they would not launch Artemis III until they are ready to fly a meaningful mission. NASA在明年实现阿尔忒弥斯3号任务，并完成涉及猎户座与两款月球着陆器原型之间交互的一系列测试目标方面，面临着巨大挑战。那么，如果明年夏天太空发射系统火箭和猎户座飞船准备就绪，但其中一个或两个着陆器尚未准备好，会发生什么？艾萨克曼表示，在准备好执行有意义的任务之前，他们不会发射阿尔忒弥斯3号。
“I would say, at a very high level, we’re not going to launch this mission until we feel like the objectives that are outlined are sufficient to bring down the risk for a follow-on landing to the Moon itself,” Isaacman said. “从宏观层面来说，除非我们认为所设定的目标足以降低后续登月任务的风险，否则我们不会发射这项任务，”艾萨克曼说道。