NASA Delays Moon Missions Over Technical, Safety Problems

NASA Delays Moon Missions Over Technical, Safety Problems

NASA因技术和安全问题推迟月球任务

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　　By Bryan Lynn

　　14 January 2024

　　The American space agency NASA has postponed two moon missions that are facing development and safety issues.

　　NASA's program to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972 is called Artemis. The agency split the program into three parts

　　In 2022, Artemis I sent NASA's Orion spacecraft on a trip around the moon without a crew. The agency's huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carried Orion into space. The spacecraft traveled more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth and completed a close fly-by of the moon. NASA officials declared Artemis I a big success.

　　The second planned trip, Artemis II, was set for late 2024. The goal was to send Orion on the same path Artemis I took, but with four astronauts. NASA announced last week it had set a new September 2025 target for the launch of Artemis II.

　　The third mission, Artemis III, will attempt to land astronauts on the surface of the moon. NASA says the crew is expected to include "the first woman and the first person of color." Artemis III was planned for 2025 but has now been pushed back to September 2026.

　　NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the postponements were necessary in order to give the agency time to deal with several ongoing problems affecting the Artemis program. "Safety is our top priority," Nelson said. He added that the delays will "give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges."

　　NASA's announcement about the delays came shortly after the successful launch of a private American company's spacecraft that aimed to land on the lunar surface.

　　That spacecraft, called Peregrine, is a moon lander built by Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic Technology. It launched January 8 aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket built by America's United Launch Alliance (ULA).

　　Immediately after Peregrine's launch, Astrobotic officials praised the mission as the first step to becoming the first private space vehicle to land on the moon. But shortly after the launch, a fuel leak was discovered.

　　Astrobotic has said the spacecraft would continue on its mission while leaking fuel but faces ongoing power and propulsion problems. The company aims to keep the lander going as long as possible and to collect data from its instruments. But officials from Astrobotic have said Peregrine is no longer expected to land on the moon.

　　Peregrine is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. It aims to hand over the nation's major missions to private companies in an effort to operate at reduced costs.

　　Peregrine and other planned missions in the CLPS program aim to land on the moon to support future Artemis activities. Another program member, Texas-based Intuitive Machines, plans to launch its Nova-C lander to the moon next month.

　　Astrobotic has said it also plans to send another lander, called Griffin, to the moon's south pole in late 2024. It will be carrying an exploring robot, or rover, called VIPER. VIPER is designed to search for water sources on the moon.

　　NASA's moon-landing effort has been delayed repeatedly over the past 10 years, adding billions of dollars to the cost, The Associated Press reports. Government estimates have predicted total program costs will reach $93 billion through 2025.

　　Reuters news agency reported NASA discovered problems with the Orion spacecraft's batteries during vibration tests. Engineers have said the batteries will likely need to be replaced.

　　Catherine Koerner is a leader at NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate in Washington. She said in a statement all technical issues will be fully investigated with safety as NASA's top goal. "We are letting the hardware talk to us so that crew safety drives our decision-making."

　　Koerner added, "We will use the Artemis II flight test, and each flight that follows, to reduce risk for future moon missions." Even with the delays and ongoing concerns, she said NASA is "closer than ever to establishing sustained exploration of Earth's nearest neighbor under Artemis."

　　I'm Bryan Lynn.

　　Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press, Reuters and Astrobotic.

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　　作者：Bryan Lynn

　　日期：2024年1月14日

　　美国航天局NASA已经推迟了两个面临开发和安全问题的月球任务。

　　NASA的阿尔忒弥斯（Artemis）计划旨在让宇航员自1972年阿波罗17号任务以来首次返回月球。该机构将该计划分为三个部分。

　　2022年，阿尔忒弥斯一号（Artemis I）将NASA的奥赖恩（Orion）宇宙飞船在无人驾驶的情况下绕月球飞行。NASA的巨大的太空发射系统（SLS）火箭将奥赖恩送入太空。这艘宇宙飞船离地球超过400,000公里，并完成了对月球的近距离飞越。NASA官员宣布阿尔忒弥斯一号是一个巨大的成功。

　　计划中的第二次旅行，阿尔忒弥斯二号（Artemis II），原定于2024年底进行。目标是将奥赖恩（Orion）沿着阿尔忒弥斯一号（Artemis I）的路径发送出去，但这次将搭载四名宇航员。NASA上周宣布，已将阿尔忒弥斯二号的发射新目标定在2025年9月。

　　第三次任务，阿尔忒弥斯三号（Artemis III），将尝试让宇航员登陆月球表面。NASA表示，预计乘员将包括“首位女性和首位有色人种”。阿尔忒弥斯三号原计划于2025年进行，但现在已被推迟到2026年9月。

　　NASA局长比尔·尼尔森（Bill Nelson）表示，推迟是为了给机构时间处理影响阿尔忒弥斯计划的几个正在进行的问题。尼尔森说：“安全是我们的首要任务。”他补充说，延误将“给阿尔忒弥斯团队更多时间来应对挑战。”

　　NASA关于延误的公告是在一家私营美国公司成功发射旨在登陆月球表面的宇宙飞船后不久发布的。

　　这个名为“Peregrine”的宇宙飞船是由宾夕法尼亚州的Astrobotic Technology公司制造的月球着陆器。它于1月8日搭载美国联合发射联盟（ULA）制造的火神半人马座（Vulcan Centaur）火箭发射。

　　Peregrine发射后，Astrobotic的官员们称赞这次任务是成为首个登陆月球的私人太空船的第一步。但发射后不久，就发现了燃料泄漏。

　　Astrobotic表示，尽管燃料泄漏，飞船仍将继续执行任务，但面临持续的电力和推进问题。该公司的目标是尽可能长时间地保持着陆器运行，并从其仪器中收集数据。但Astrobotic的官员表示，不再预期Peregrine会登陆月球。

　　Peregrine是NASA的商业月球载荷服务（CLPS）计划的一部分。该计划旨在将国家的主要任务交给私人公司，以努力以降低成本的方式运营。

　　Peregrine和CLPS计划中的其他计划任务旨在登陆月球，以支持未来的阿尔忒弥斯活动。另一家计划成员，位于德克萨斯州的Intuitive Machines公司，计划在下个月将其Nova-C着陆器发射到月球。

　　Astrobotic表示，它还计划在2024年底将另一个名为Griffin的着陆器送往月球南极。它将携带一台名为VIPER的探索机器人，或称为月球车。VIPER的设计目标是在月球上寻找水源。

　　据美联社报道，NASA的登月努力在过去10年中一再被推迟，使成本增加了数十亿美元。政府的预测估计，到2025年，整个计划的总成本将达到930亿美元。

　　路透社报道，NASA在振动测试中发现了Orion宇宙飞船电池的问题。工程师们表示，电池可能需要更换。

　　Catherine Koerner是NASA位于华盛顿的探索系统开发任务局的领导者。她在一份声明中表示，所有技术问题将在NASA的最高目标——安全的前提下得到全面调查。“我们让硬件与我们对话，以便让乘员的安全驱动我们的决策。”

　　Koerner补充说，“我们将利用阿尔忒弥斯二号的飞行测试，以及随后的每次飞行，来降低未来月球任务的风险。”尽管存在延误和持续的问题，她表示NASA在“阿尔忒弥斯计划下，比以往任何时候都更接近建立对地球最近的邻居的持续探索。”

　　我是Bryan Lynn。

　　Bryan Lynn为VOA学习英语撰写了这篇报道，报道基于NASA、美联社、路透社和Astrobotic的报道。

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　　故事中的词汇

　　mission – n. 任务，使命（做某事被认为非常困难或不可能）

　　priority – n. 优先事项，最重要的事情

　　challenge – n. 挑战，测试一个人的能力或决心的困难事物

　　propulsion – n. 推进力，推动某物向前的力量

　　battery – n. 电池，一种化学存储电力的设备，可以在电脑和电动机等电路中作为直流电源使用

　　vibrate – v. 震动，使某物以小的、快速的动作摇动

　　sustain – v. 维持，使某事物持续一段时间