We managed to glean some interesting details about the Artemis III mission
We managed to glean some interesting details about the Artemis III mission
我们成功获取了一些关于“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”任务的有趣细节
On Tuesday, NASA announced the crew for the Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to be flown no earlier than summer 2027. As part of the announcement, space agency officials also discussed plans for the crew to dock with both a Blue Origin lander and a SpaceX Starship lander during the spaceflight in low-Earth orbit. The presentation, although informative, still left open key questions about the landers’ readiness and what exactly they’ll look like. After the crew announcement, Ars sat down with Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager, to answer some of these questions. This interview, conducted at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, has been lightly edited for clarity.
周二，NASA 公布了“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”（Artemis III）任务的乘组名单，该任务计划于 2027 年夏季之前执行。在发布会上，航天局官员还讨论了乘组在近地轨道飞行期间与蓝色起源（Blue Origin）着陆器及 SpaceX 星舰（Starship）着陆器进行对接的计划。尽管此次发布会信息量很大，但关于着陆器的准备情况及其具体外观，仍留下了关键疑问。在乘组名单公布后，Ars 采访了 NASA 阿尔忒弥斯项目经理杰里米·帕森斯（Jeremy Parsons）以解答这些问题。本次采访在 NASA 约翰逊航天中心进行，为清晰起见，内容经过了编辑。
Ars: How is the Space Launch System rocket and launch pad looking a couple of months after Artemis II?
Ars：在“阿尔忒弥斯 2 号”任务结束几个月后，太空发射系统（SLS）火箭和发射台的情况如何？
Jeremy Parsons: The mobile launcher is honestly in great shape after the launch, so the modifications we did between (Artemis) I and II were highly, highly successful. We rolled back a couple of weeks after launch, and two things are kind of going on in parallel right now. The boosters have arrived at what we call the rotation processing surge facility, so they’re being prepped and ready for stacking—so rotation, all that kind of stuff. And then on the mobile launcher, there were a couple of areas of damage, and we’ve got like 90-something percent of it done right now. There are a couple of areas in the flame hole that they’re re-welding, and we want to get that work done before we start stacking boosters. As a general rule, we don’t want to weld with the propellant there. So all of that’s looking to finish up [in the] early July time frame. I expect us to be stacking in July.
杰里米·帕森斯： 发射后，移动发射平台的状态非常好，这说明我们在“阿尔忒弥斯 1 号”和“2 号”之间所做的改进非常成功。发射几周后我们将其运回，目前有两项工作在同步进行。助推器已经抵达我们所谓的“旋转处理激增设施”（rotation processing surge facility），正在为堆叠做准备——包括旋转等一系列工作。在移动发射平台方面，有几处受损区域，目前我们已经完成了 90% 以上的修复工作。火焰槽（flame hole）还有几处需要重新焊接，我们希望在开始堆叠助推器之前完成这些工作。通常情况下，我们不希望在有推进剂的情况下进行焊接。所有这些工作预计在 7 月初完成，我预计我们会在 7 月开始堆叠。
Ars: What is the plan for testing the SLS rocket? Will you perform a wet dress rehearsal on the rocket before putting Orion on top?
Ars：SLS 火箭的测试计划是什么？在安装“猎户座”飞船之前，你们会进行湿彩排（wet dress rehearsal）吗？
Parsons: As you saw in Artemis I and II, we had issues with the cryogenic seals—those go through what is called the tail service mast umbilicals. We’re in the process of redesigning those and implementing new ones for this mission. Part of what we want to do is… what we call a short-stack tanking or wet dress rehearsal. Basically, you get the boosters and the core stage on, [and] you complete all the thermal protection systems. We then would put a cover on top of the core stage, and we’d roll out in that configuration. Then we tank it up and make sure the seals are tight.
帕森斯： 正如你在“阿尔忒弥斯 1 号”和“2 号”中看到的，我们在低温密封件上遇到了问题——这些密封件位于所谓的“尾部服务桅杆脐带缆”（tail service mast umbilicals）中。我们正在重新设计这些部件，并为本次任务安装新的密封件。我们计划进行所谓的“短堆叠加注测试”或湿彩排。简单来说，就是安装好助推器和芯级，并完成所有热防护系统的安装。然后，我们会在芯级顶部加装盖板，并以这种配置运出。接着进行加注，以确保密封性良好。
Ars: You’re flying Artemis III without an ICPS upper stage because you don’t need the performance to reach low-Earth orbit. But you do need a second stage simulator. What’s the status of that?
Ars：你们在“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”任务中没有使用 ICPS 上级，因为到达近地轨道不需要那么强的性能。但你们确实需要一个二级模拟器，目前进展如何？
Parsons: That, to me, is really cool. It’s called a spacer, and we already have the design done. Metal is already being bump-formed at United Launch Alliance, and then we’re going to weld it in-house at Marshall Space Flight Center. We expect it to show up at Kennedy Space Center no later than December, and then we’ll stack Orion on top of that. We’re in really good shape with that, and I’m pretty psyched with the progress.
帕森斯： 对我来说，这非常酷。它被称为“间隔环”（spacer），我们已经完成了设计。联合发射联盟（ULA）正在进行金属成型加工，随后我们将在马歇尔太空飞行中心内部进行焊接。我们预计它最迟在 12 月运抵肯尼迪航天中心，然后我们将把“猎户座”飞船安装在上面。目前进展非常顺利，我对这个进度感到非常兴奋。
Ars: So it sounds like the rocket and Orion should be good to go by mid-2027. Let’s talk about the other parts, the two lunar landers and their launch vehicles. Starting with Blue Origin, you called the prototype lander they’re flying for Artemis III a “lander test article” during your remarks today. What does that mean, exactly?
Ars：听起来火箭和“猎户座”飞船应该能在 2027 年年中准备就绪。我们来谈谈其他部分，即两个月球着陆器及其运载火箭。从蓝色起源开始，你在今天的发言中称他们为“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”准备的原型着陆器为“着陆器测试件”（lander test article）。这具体是什么意思？
Parsons: It’s in between Mk 1 and Mk 2. It’s the same lunar crew module, which is really the most important aspect—same avionics, same flight software, so we’re going to get all of that component testing done. This will be the first production article of the lunar crew module, so we’re also going to have the ECLSS system (environmental control and life support). The primary differences between this test article and the final lander will be the BE-7 engines, so you’re not going to have cryogenics on this test. What we’re going to use is storable propellants and a reaction control system because they don’t need the big thrust that’s needed to go to and from the Moon. That also gives us some time to really dial in what we call the dual-launch campaign. That’s going to be something to really highly choreograph as we go into the Artemis IV missions and beyond.
帕森斯： 它介于 Mk 1 和 Mk 2 之间。它拥有相同的月球乘员舱，这是最关键的部分——相同的航空电子设备、相同的飞行软件，因此我们将完成所有这些组件的测试。这将是月球乘员舱的首个生产件，所以我们也会配备环境控制与生命保障系统（ECLSS）。这个测试件与最终着陆器的主要区别在于 BE-7 发动机，因此这次测试不会涉及低温推进剂。我们将使用可储存推进剂和姿态控制系统，因为它们不需要往返月球所需的大推力。这也给了我们一些时间来真正磨合所谓的“双发射任务”。随着我们进入“阿尔忒弥斯 4 号”及后续任务，这将是一项需要高度协调的工作。
(Image Caption: Blue Origin’s Blue Moon MK1 lander, seen in the center, is taller than NASA’s Apollo lunar lander, currently the largest spacecraft to have landed on the Moon. Blue Moon MK2 is even larger, but all three landers are dwarfed in size by SpaceX’s Starship. Credit: Blue Origin)
(图片说明：图中中央的蓝色起源 Blue Moon MK1 着陆器比 NASA 的阿波罗登月舱更高，后者是目前在月球着陆过的最大航天器。Blue Moon MK2 更大，但与 SpaceX 的星舰相比，这三款着陆器都显得相形见绌。图片来源：Blue Origin)
Ars: Can the Blue Origin lander for Artemis III be launched on the existing 7×2 variant of the New Glenn rocket?
Ars：“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”的蓝色起源着陆器能用现有的“新格伦”（New Glenn）火箭 7×2 型号发射吗？
Parsons: Yes.
帕森斯： 是的。
Ars: You and other NASA officials expressed a lot of confidence in New Glenn being ready to launch this vehicle next year, even after the pad explosion a couple of weeks ago. Is there a decision point at which you have to make a go-or-no-go call on whether to fly the Artemis III test lander on New Glenn or to consider other rockets?
Ars：尽管几周前发射台发生了爆炸，但你和其他 NASA 官员仍对“新格伦”火箭明年发射该载具充满信心。是否存在一个决策点，让你们必须决定是否继续使用“新格伦”发射“阿尔忒弥斯 3 号”测试着陆器，还是考虑其他火箭？
Parsons: So is there a decision point…
帕森斯： 关于是否存在决策点……
Ars: Like if you get to October or November of this year, and Blue Origin’s launch pads for New Glenn are nowhere near ready.
Ars：比如如果到了今年 10 月或 11 月，蓝色起源的“新格伦”发射台仍远未准备好。
Parsons: I think you’ve heard from Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, and Jeff Bezos, and they are all in. The other thing to take into account is they had already started their second pad, so they’re about a year into that development timeframe. It’s going to be a dual path. They’re really getting in and clearing out SLC-36 right now, and a lot of the key hardware is in really good shape. That being said, we’re going to be working with them hand in hand every single day, and…
帕森斯： 我想你已经听过蓝色起源首席执行官戴夫·林普（Dave Limp）和杰夫·贝索斯（Jeff Bezos）的表态了，他们全力以赴。另一件需要考虑的事情是，他们已经启动了第二个发射台的建设，该项目已经开发了大约一年。这将是一条双轨并行的路径。他们目前正在清理 SLC-36 发射场，许多关键硬件的状态也非常好。话虽如此，我们将每天与他们紧密合作，并且……