SpaceX爆炸事件：為什麼它很重要 - 每天聰明一點點 138：英語精讀講義

Hey, it's me Destin.

嘿，我是Destin。

Welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

歡迎回到Smarter Every Day。

Depending on where you get your media, 文法

取決於你獲取媒體資訊的管道，

you're probably aware that we just failed for the third time in 8 months to get cargo vehicles up to the International Space Station,

你可能已經知道，我們剛剛在8個月內第三次未能將貨運太空船送上國際太空站，

which means that cargo didn't make it up there.

這意味著貨物沒能成功送達那裡。

Now, the media's really negative about this,

現在，媒體對此非常負面，

and I understand that.

我也理解這一點。

It's never good to blow up rockets. 片語動詞

火箭爆炸絕不是件好事。

However, as a rocket tester,

然而，身為一名火箭測試員，

that's my day job, 片語搭配

這也是我的日常工作，

I think I'm a little bit more positive about this.

我覺得我對此的態度要稍微正面一些。

And the reason is because I've always learned more from rocket failures than from successes. 文法

原因在於，我從火箭失敗中學到的東西總是比從成功中學到的多。

Before I show the explosions,

在向大家展示爆炸畫面之前，

let's talk about one thing.

我們先來談談一件事。

It's called staging. 用詞

叫做分節運作（Staging）。

So,

那麼，

imagine you've got this rocket and you got really big propellant tanks and you've got engines on it,

想像你有一枚火箭，上面有巨大的推進劑儲槽和引擎，

right?

對吧？

At some point along the way, 片語搭配

在飛行過程中的某個時刻，

you're going to have really big empty tanks,

你會有非常大的空儲槽，

and that's just a lot of extra weight.

而這些就成了多餘的重量。

Rocket engineers figured out a long time ago that if they drop off all that extra weight 片語動詞

火箭工程師很久以前就發現，如果他們拋棄所有這些多餘的重量，

and they switch over to another rocket engine and smaller tanks 片語動詞

並切換到另一台火箭引擎和更小的儲槽，

that they can get to orbit more efficiently.

他們就能更有效率地進入軌道。

This is a beautiful thing,

這是一件美妙的事情，

and it works because of something called the rocket equation. 片語搭配

它的原理是基於所謂的火箭方程式。

Okay,

好了，

time to look at the failures.

是時候來看看這些失敗案例了。

The first failure was an Orbital Sciences Antares vehicle carrying the Cygnus spacecraft.

第一次失敗是軌道科學公司搭載天鵝座太空船的「安塔瑞斯」運載火箭。

Now,

那麼，

this vehicle was interesting because it used Russian engines that were literally 40 years old. 用詞

這枚運載火箭很有趣，因為它使用的是字面意義上已經40年歷史的俄羅斯引擎。

Now,

現在，

that sounds crazy at first,

這乍聽之下很瘋狂，

but rocket engines are super expensive,

但火箭引擎極其昂貴，

and these were actually really efficient engines.

而且這些引擎實際上非常有效率。

Anyway,

不管怎樣，

they were refurbished,

它們經過了翻新，

but still there was a catastrophic failure. 片語搭配

但還是發生了災難性的失敗。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

a lot of stuff didn't make it to the space station.

很多東西沒能送達太空站。

The second failure was a Russian vehicle called Progress 59.

第二次失敗是一艘名為「進步59號」的俄羅斯太空船。

It launched like normal from Baikonur,

它從拜科努爾像往常一樣發射，

and it even made it to space,

甚至已經到達了太空，

but somewhere up there there was a failure on the third stage,

但在上面的某個地方，第三節發生了故障，

and everything went cattywampus. 用詞

一切都亂七八糟了。

The engineers couldn't regain control, 片語搭配

工程師們無法重新取得控制權，

and the vehicle eventually burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. 片語動詞

太空船最終在地球大氣層中燒毀。

Among other things, 表達脈絡

除此之外，

there were a lot of toilet repair parts on that Progress vehicle,

那艘「進步」號太空船上還有很多修理廁所的零件，

which is a pretty big deal.

這是件相當重要的事情。

You got to poop somewhere.

你總得找個地方上廁所吧。

The most recent failure was of a Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX.

最近一次失敗是SpaceX製造的獵鷹9號火箭。

Again,

同樣地，

the launch seemed to be normal,

發射過程看起來很正常，

everything seemed to be going well,

一切似乎都很順利，

and then it seemed to vent something out the side that looked like liquid oxygen,

接著它似乎從側面噴出了像液態氧一樣的東西，

and then all of a sudden it exploded.

然後突然之間它就爆炸了。

I'm not going to speculate on why it exploded because I'm not a system expert.

我不想去推測它為什麼爆炸，因為我不是系統專家。

Those exist,

專家大有人在，

and I'm not one of them.

而我不是其中之一。

In terms of hardware loss, 表達脈絡

在硬體損失方面，

there was a lot of normal supplies and scientific gear,

有很多日常補給和科學儀器，

as well as an International Docking Adapter,

還有一個國際對接轉接器、

a HoloLens, and a space suit.

一台HoloLens和一件太空衣。

Space suits don't really grow on trees. 慣用語

太空衣可不是樹上長出來的。

Okay,

好了，

let's talk about what this means for the space station because there's a lot of chow that didn't make it up there. 用詞

我們來談談這對太空站意味著什麼，因為有很多食物都沒能送上去。

There's a person in the front of the control room called the ISO, 文化背景

在控制室前面有一個人叫做ISO，

the Inventory and Stowage Officer.

即庫存與裝載官。

Their job is to know exactly what is where on the International Space Station.

他們的工作是確切知道國際太空站上什麼東西在哪個位置。

For example,

例如，

food.

食物。

When it comes time to eat on the space station, 文法

當太空站到了用餐時間，

astronauts have large bags of food.

太空人會拿大袋的食物。

They'll scan it with a scanner.

他們會用掃描器掃一下。

Boop.

嗶。

That tells the ISO that that bag is now open.

這就告訴ISO那袋食物現在已經打開了。

They'll open the bag up,

他們會打開袋子，

and they'll start eating food out of that bag,

開始吃袋子裡的食物，

and that bag will last them about a week. 用詞

那袋食物夠他們吃上大約一個星期。

They try to plan at least 60 days ahead of the next cargo vehicle. 片語搭配

他們試圖在下一艘貨運太空船到來之前至少提前60天做好計畫。

It's called a skip cycle.

這被稱為一個跳躍週期。

So,

所以，

when Cygnus blew up,

當天鵝座太空船爆炸時，

they took that 60-day window,

他們把那60天的窗口期

and they compressed it down to about 45 days. 片語搭配

壓縮到了大概45天。

This is an internal discussion that these guys have to manage their assets.

這是這些人為了管理資產必須要進行的一項內部討論。

The good news is there's no longer three astronauts on the American side of the space station eating up all the food. 片語動詞

好消息是，太空站美國區不再有三名太空人在消耗所有的食物了。

There's only one,

現在只有一名，

Scott Kelly.

史考特·凱利。

And trust me,

相信我，

Scott Kelly can't eat three astronauts worth of food. 文法

史考特·凱利吃不下三名太空人份量的食物。

The fact that we've lost three vehicles pretty much in a row,

我們幾乎連續損失了三艘太空船，

and we still have plenty of supplies on the space station,

而太空站上仍然有充足的補給，

speaks to how awesome these engineers and mission planners are. 片語搭配

這個事實說明了這些工程師和任務規劃者有多麼了不起。

ISOs are pretty awesome.

ISO們非常厲害。

Is it okay to keep blowing up rockets?

一直炸火箭真的沒問題嗎？

No.

當然有問題。

But,

但是，

I would submit to you that this might be the perfect time for it to happen if it has to. 語氣意圖

我想告訴你們，如果這事注定要發生，現在可能是發生它的最佳時機。

The cargo vehicle program has been incredibly reliable,

貨運太空船計畫一直極其可靠，

almost routine,

事實上，

in fact.

幾乎成了例行公事。

I mean,

我的意思是，

look at these numbers.

看看這些數字。

These reliability rates are right on par for the non-human-rated rocket business. 片語搭配

這些可靠性指標與非載人火箭業務的平均水準完全一致。

You know why this is impressive to me?

你知道為什麼這讓我印象深刻嗎？

There are billions of Wi-Fi connections all over the world,

全世界有數十億個Wi-Fi連線，

and there are absolutely no moving parts.

並且完全沒有任何活動部件。

Yet, we

然而，我們

still don't have it figured out. That's crazy. 片語動詞

仍然沒有完全弄明白它。這太瘋狂了。

Now,

現在，

think about rockets.

想想火箭。

If you had a million movable parts on this Wi-Fi connection, 文法

如果你在這個Wi-Fi連線上有第一百萬個活動部件，

would you expect it to work?

你會指望它能用嗎？

I wouldn't.

我是不會的。

But,

但是，

somehow, rockets work.

不知何故，火箭卻能正常運作。

That's amazing.

這真是太神奇了。

Space is hard,

太空探索很艱難，

but we're doing it.

但我們正在做這件事。

Think about staging again.

再想一想分節運作。

You compute your guidance and control algorithm based on a huge rocket to hit the right course.

你基於一枚巨大的火箭來計算導引和控制演算法以對準正確的航向。

When you get to altitude,

當你到達一定高度時，

you've got to stop one set of rocket engines,

你必須停止一組火箭引擎的運作，

break the rocket in half,

將火箭一分為二，

safely separate the two parts,

安全地分離這兩部分，

recalibrate your entire guidance and control scheme,

重新校準你整個導引和控制方案，

start another rocket engine,

啟動另一台火箭引擎，

and make sure that one's on the same track.

並確保它還在相同的軌道上。

Oh,

喔，

by the way, 表達脈絡

順帶一提，

did your center of gravity just move halfway down your vehicle?

你的重心是不是剛剛向下移動了半個箭身？

You're doing this while you're on a collision course with the ground, 片語搭配

而你做這些事情的時候，你正處在可能墜毀於地面的航線上，

and you're going several times the speed of sound using materials that were the lightest you had available,

並且正以幾倍音速飛行，使用的是你能找到的最輕的材質，

and you shaved every single gram you could so you could get more payload to orbit. 用詞

而且你為了能將更多有效載荷送入軌道，把重量減輕到了極致。

That's really hard.

那真的是非常困難。

So,

所以，

what do these failures mean for human space flight?

這些失敗對載人航太意味著什麼呢？

Well,

嗯，

for one thing, 表達脈絡

首先，

cargo vehicles are not human-rated vehicles. 用詞

貨運太空船不是載人級別的太空船。

Once you put a human on top of that rocket, 文法

一旦你把人放在那枚火箭上，

the rules change.

規則就變了。

For example,

例如，

a cargo vehicle might have two guidance computers,

貨運太空船可能有兩台導引電腦，

but a human-rated vehicle might have six.

但載人級別的太空船可能有六台。

Human-rated vehicles might have extra valves so you can isolate a problem with propellant. 片語搭配

載人級別的太空船可能有額外的閥門，以便在推進劑出現問題時進行隔離。

Another thing,

另一件事，

the very top of a human-rated system is often a launch abort system. 文化背景

載人系統最頂端通常是發射中止系統。

If something goes squirrely with the big rocket, 用詞

如果大火箭出了什麼差錯，

you can just punch the launch abort system, 用詞

你只需啟動發射中止系統，

and it'll pull the capsule away,

它就會把太空艙拉走，

saving the humans.

從而救下人類。

Okay,

好了，

my words might not be right, 語氣意圖

我的說法可能不完全準確，

but I'm a little excited that these failures happened exactly when they did.

但這些失敗剛好發生在這個時間點，這讓我有點興奮。

And this is why.

原因如下。

If you think about it,

仔細想一想，

we are stressing the system in a way we did not anticipate. 用詞

我們正在以一種我們未能預料到的方式對系統施壓。

Three cargo vessels did not make it.

三艘貨運太空船未能送達。

That's a big deal,

這是件大事，

but everything's still working.

但一切仍在正常運作。

So,

所以，

we have great mission planning.

我們有很棒的任務規劃。

We stressed the system in a way we didn't expect,

我們以一種意想不到的方式對系統施壓，

and it's working flawlessly.

而它卻在完美運作。

Number two,

第二，

we're going to uncover something,

我們將去發現一些問題，

right?

對吧？

We did something wrong.

我們做錯了某些事情。

I don't know what it is,

我不知道是什麼，

but there might have been a weld that was wrong.

但可能是某處焊接有問題。

We might have done something wrong procedurally.

可能是我們在程序上做錯了什麼。

Something is wrong,

肯定是哪裡出了問題，

and we're going to take a really stinking hard look at it right now, 片語搭配

而我們現在就要非常嚴苛地去檢視它，

just before we transition to human flight,

就在我們過渡到載人飛行之前，

and we're probably going to be safer because of it because if these rockets had kept working every single time, 文法

我們也可能會因此變得更安全，因為如果這些火箭每次都能正常運作，

that flaw in the system or in that part would still be there,

系統中或那個部件上的缺陷就仍然存在，

but it would remain uncovered.

只不過它會一直沒被發現。

So,

所以，

it's a really good thing that it happened right now

在這個時候發生這種事真的是件好事，

before we put humans on these rockets.

就在我們把人送上這些火箭之前。

So,

那麼，

my grandfather worked on Apollo,

我祖父曾參與過阿波羅計畫，

and my mom found something really cool this week in the basement.

我媽媽這週在地下室發現了一些非常酷的東西。

It is a coin made from materials that flew with Apollo 8 around the moon.

這是一枚由隨阿波羅8號繞月飛行的材料製成的硬幣。

Really cool.

非常酷。

It comes with this letter from Frank Borman,

隨附的還有法蘭克·博爾曼的一封信，

who was one of the astronauts,

他是其中一位太空人，

thanking the people that made his rocket for their dedication to safety. 片語搭配

信中感謝為他製造火箭的人們對安全的專注奉獻。

Really,

真的，

really cool.

非常酷。

Also,

還有，

there's this.

這個。

It's a lunar landing celebration invitation from Dr. Wernher von Braun.

這是一張華納·馮·布朗博士發出的登月慶祝邀請函。

And if you zoom in here,

如果你放大這裡看，

you can see what he says in closing. 表達脈絡

你可以看到他在信末的結語。

He says,

他寫道，

"My greatest hope is that together we can work on ever greater ventures in the future."

「我最大的希望是，未來我們能夠攜手共創更偉大的事業。」

That's exactly what the International Space Station is.

這正是國際太空站的意義所在。

It's a greater thing.

這是一項更偉大的事業。

It transcends politics. 表達脈絡

它跨越了政治。

It transcends language.

它跨越了語言。

It's just amazing.

這簡直太不可思議了。

And so,

所以，

you got to ask yourself, 片語搭配

你得問問自己，

in this situation,

在這種情況下，

resupply vehicles fail,

補給太空船出現故障，

what would von Braun do?

馮·布朗會怎麼做？

And I think he would double down. 片語動詞

我想他會加倍努力。

I think he would realize that he could learn from mistakes in these resupply vehicles

我想他會意識到，他可以從這些補給太空船的失誤中吸取教訓，

and roll that knowledge into the human space flight effort. 片語動詞

並將這些知識應用到載人航太的努力中去。

And I'm really excited about that.

對此我感到非常興奮。

I hope you enjoyed this episode of Smarter Every Day.

希望你喜歡這期Smarter Every Day。

It was sponsored by audible.com,

本期由audible.com贊助，

where you can get a free audiobook by going to audible.com/smarter.

你可以前往audible.com/smarter免費獲取一本有聲書。

I recommend Endurance by Alfred Lansing.

我推薦阿爾弗雷德·蘭辛的《堅忍號》。

I read this book because I saw a space station astronaut reading this book on one of the tours I watched online.

我讀這本書，是因為我在網路上看的一次導覽中看到一位太空站太空人正在讀這本書。

Incredible parallels.

有著驚人的相似之處。

They were stuck trying to cross Antarctica by land. 文法

他們在試圖從陸路橫穿南極洲時受困了。

They tried to resupply by boat.

他們試圖透過船隻進行補給。

Didn't work.

失敗了。

They had to survive on what they had. 片語動詞

他們必須依靠現有的東西生存下來。

There's penguins that they would kill and eat.

他們會捕殺企鵝來吃。

I'm not going to tell you if they eat the dogs,

我不會告訴你們他們有沒有吃狗，

but it's an incredible book.

但這是一本令人難以置信的書。

Anyway,

不管怎樣，

check it out.

去看看吧。

It's about Shackleton's incredible voyage.

關於沙克爾頓那場不可思議的航行。

audible.com/smarter,

audible.com/smarter，

Endurance by Alfred Lansing.

阿爾弗雷德·蘭辛的《堅忍號》。

I am Destin.

我是Destin。

You're getting smarter every day.

你每天都在變得更聰明。

Have a good one.

祝你開心。