SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight
SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight
SpaceX 在第 13 次飞行圆满结束后，计划在下一次星舰任务中尝试发射塔回收
SpaceX was more than lucky Friday, sending its 13th full-scale Starship test flight halfway around the world from South Texas to an on-target, intact splashdown in a remote section of the Indian Ocean. Starship has made precise splashdowns before. This time, however, the ship gently tipped over and came to rest floating in a remote stretch of ocean west of Australia. Previous splashdowns ended with conflagrations, an outcome SpaceX officials have come to expect with each water landing of Starship.
SpaceX 在周五的运气远不止于“幸运”，他们成功将第 13 次全尺寸星舰（Starship）测试飞行从德克萨斯州南部送往半个地球之外，并精准地在印度洋的偏远海域实现了完整溅落。虽然星舰此前也曾实现过精准溅落，但这一次，飞船在轻轻倾斜后，平稳地漂浮在澳大利亚以西的偏远海域。以往的溅落往往以爆炸告终，这曾是 SpaceX 官员对星舰每次水上着陆的预期结果。
The buoyant Starship looked to be in fine shape after reaching the Indian Ocean. SpaceX engineers flew drones over the vehicle to inspect its heat shield, getting their best look yet at how more than 18,000 ceramic tiles insulating the ship’s stainless steel airframe weathered the trip to space and back. The tiles withstood temperatures up to 2,600° Fahrenheit (1,430° Celsius) as Starship streaked back into the atmosphere at the end of its hour-long flight from Starbase, Texas.
抵达印度洋后，这艘漂浮的星舰看起来状态良好。SpaceX 的工程师操控无人机飞越飞船上方以检查其隔热罩，这是他们迄今为止最清晰的一次观察，得以了解覆盖在飞船不锈钢机身上的 18,000 多块陶瓷隔热瓦在往返太空后的受损情况。当星舰结束从德克萨斯州星际基地（Starbase）出发的长达一小时飞行，重新冲入大气层时，这些隔热瓦承受了高达 2,600 华氏度（1,430 摄氏度）的高温。
Encouraged by the picture-perfect end to Friday’s flight, SpaceX is likely to take the next leap with Starship on the next launch, according to the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk. That would entail hurling Starship on a longer-range trajectory, perhaps into low-Earth orbit, to bring the vehicle back to the launch site. Mechanical arms on the launch tower will attempt to capture the ship as it slows to a hover. SpaceX has already done this with the rocket’s massive Super Heavy booster, which is larger and heavier than Starship itself, but comes back at a fraction of the speed.
据 SpaceX 创始人兼首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）称，受到周五飞行圆满结局的鼓舞，SpaceX 很可能会在下一次发射中让星舰迈出跨越性的一步。这意味着将星舰送入更长距离的轨道，或许是近地轨道，以便让飞船返回发射场。当飞船减速至悬停状态时，发射塔上的机械臂将尝试将其捕获。SpaceX 此前已经对巨大的“超重型”（Super Heavy）助推器完成了这一操作，尽管助推器比星舰本身更大更重，但其返回时的速度要慢得多。
“Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on next flight,” Musk wrote on X Friday evening.
“除非我们在审查任务数据后发现问题，否则 SpaceX 将在下一次飞行中尝试用发射塔捕获飞船，”马斯克周五晚间在 X 上写道。
Hungry for data
渴望数据
Engineers have long identified the performance and durability of the heat shield as one of the toughest challenges for the Starship program. SpaceX’s ambition for Starship includes rapid turnarounds, and eventually multiple flights per day. If this is to be achievable, the heat shield has to be robust against the vibrations and extreme temperatures it sees during launch and reentry. It can’t be refurbished or replaced after every flight.
工程师们长期以来一直认为，隔热罩的性能和耐用性是星舰项目面临的最严峻挑战之一。SpaceX 对星舰的雄心包括实现快速周转，并最终达到每天多次飞行。如果这一目标要实现，隔热罩必须能够抵御发射和重返大气层过程中产生的振动和极端温度，且不能在每次飞行后进行翻新或更换。
“This is the first time we’ve put an intact Starship in the water,” said Dan Huot, a SpaceX communications manager providing commentary on the company’s live webcast. “This is a dream scenario for the team that’s trying to get this heat shield data.” The intact splashdown Friday also opens up the possibility for SpaceX to tow the rocket back to shore, probably somewhere in Australia, for more detailed inspections. Starship is designed for reuse, but not after exposure to salt water.
“这是我们第一次将一艘完整的星舰放入水中，”SpaceX 通讯经理丹·胡特（Dan Huot）在公司直播中评论道。“对于那些试图获取隔热罩数据的团队来说，这是一个梦寐以求的场景。”周五的完整溅落也为 SpaceX 提供了一种可能性：将火箭拖回岸边（可能是在澳大利亚的某个地方）进行更详细的检查。星舰的设计初衷是可重复使用，但并不包括在接触盐水之后。
“This is so critical for refining the heat shield and everything else. The really good news is … you’re looking at a pretty intact-looking heat shield,” Huot said. “We were flying at a significantly higher dynamic pressure, so putting way more stress on this vehicle on the way uphill, and it’s sitting there in the water.”
“这对改进隔热罩及其他一切至关重要。真正的好消息是……你现在看到的是一个看起来相当完整的隔热罩，”胡特说。“我们这次是在明显更高的动压下飞行，因此在上升过程中给飞船施加了更大的压力，而它现在正完好地漂浮在水面上。”
SpaceX continued receiving signals from Starship after splashdown through the company’s Starlink satellite broadband network. A camera onboard Starship showed no signs of external damage to the vehicle’s six Raptor engines as water lapped against the lens.
溅落后，SpaceX 通过其星链（Starlink）卫星宽带网络继续接收来自星舰的信号。星舰上的一台摄像机显示，尽管水花拍打着镜头，但飞船的六台猛禽（Raptor）发动机外部没有损坏迹象。
Friday’s test flight was the 13th launch of SpaceX’s Starship on top of its massive Super Heavy booster, and the second flight of the latest iteration of the world’s most powerful rocket—Starship Version 3.
周五的测试飞行是 SpaceX 星舰搭载其巨大的“超重型”助推器的第 13 次发射，也是世界上最强大火箭的最新迭代版本——星舰第三版（Version 3）的第二次飞行。
The 408-foot-tall (124-meter) rocket lifted off from Starbase, Texas, a few miles north of the US-Mexico border, at 5:51 pm CDT (6:51 pm EDT; 22:51 UTC). Thirty-three methane-fueled Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster steered the rocket east over the Gulf of Mexico and into the upper atmosphere, where the booster separated from Starship’s upper stage after burning most of its cryogenic propellant.
这座 408 英尺（124 米）高的火箭于中部夏令时间（CDT）下午 5:51（美东时间下午 6:51；协调世界时 22:51）从美墨边境以北几英里的德克萨斯州星际基地升空。超重型助推器上的 33 台甲烷燃料猛禽发动机引导火箭向东飞越墨西哥湾，进入高层大气。在消耗掉大部分低温推进剂后，助推器与星舰上面级分离。
The only thing left incomplete on SpaceX’s checklist for Flight 13 was the controlled splashdown of the Super Heavy booster. It was supposed to relight its engines for a landing burn off the coast of Texas, simulating maneuvers required to return the booster back to the launch pad for recovery and reuse. But some of the Raptor engines failed to restart for the landing burn, and the booster fell into the ocean at high speed. SpaceX also had trouble with the booster splashdown on the last flight in May.
SpaceX 第 13 次飞行清单中唯一未完成的项目是超重型助推器的受控溅落。它本应在德克萨斯州海岸外重新点火进行着陆反推，以模拟将助推器返回发射台进行回收和再利用所需的机动动作。但部分猛禽发动机未能成功重启，导致助推器高速坠入海中。SpaceX 在 5 月份的上次飞行中也遇到了助推器溅落的问题。
Friday’s flight showed some progress, but engineers have more work to do on recovering this version the Super Heavy booster. SpaceX previously recovered and re-flew Super Heavy boosters two times with the Starship Version 2 design, but not with Version 3.
周五的飞行显示出了一些进展，但工程师们在回收这一版本的超重型助推器方面仍有更多工作要做。SpaceX 此前曾利用星舰第二版设计成功回收并重复使用了两次超重型助推器，但尚未在第三版上实现。
“The booster successfully completed the high thrust portion of the boostback burn with all 33 engines, the first time with a Super Heavy V3, before ending the burn early,” SpaceX officials wrote in an update on the company’s website. “It attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn, with a subset successfully igniting before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf.”
“助推器成功完成了 33 台发动机的高推力助推返回点火阶段（这是超重型 V3 的首次尝试），随后提前结束了点火，”SpaceX 官员在公司网站的更新中写道。“它尝试重新点火进行着陆反推，部分发动机成功点火，随后在墨西哥湾经历了硬着陆溅落。”
Success in space
太空中的成功
Starship continued accelerating into space as the Super Heavy booster descended toward the Gulf, firing its six engines more than five minutes before beginning a half-hour coast over the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and South Africa. A few minutes after engine shutdown, Starship opened its payload bay door and started deploying.
当超重型助推器向墨西哥湾下降时，星舰继续加速进入太空，其六台发动机点火超过五分钟，随后开始了在加勒比海、大西洋和南非上空长达半小时的滑行。发动机关闭几分钟后，星舰打开了载荷舱门并开始部署。