SpaceX“星际飞船”原型机成功着陆数分钟后爆炸
SpaceX's Starship SN10 fires its thrusters as it lands during a test in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S., March 3, 2021. /AP
据美国媒体报道，当地时间3日，美国太空 探索 技术公司（SpaceX）用于太空载人远航的“星际飞船”（Starship）火箭原型机SN10在着陆数分钟后发生爆炸。
An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded on the ground in Texas, U.S. on Wednesday after carrying out what had seemed to be a successful flight and landing.
The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success. Two previous test flights crash-landed in fireballs.
据报道，本次发射试验是在SpaceX公司位于得克萨斯州的博卡奇卡（Boca Chica）发射场进行的。SpaceX官网上的视频显示——
“这是SN10一次美丽的试飞。” SpaceX工程师约翰·英斯普鲁克（John Insprucker）在直播视频中兴奋地说道。他还表示，SpaceX已经有其他几款原型机投入生产，而下一架SN11准备在不久之后进行另一次试飞。
然而，就在观众们开始为试验的成功欢呼时，灾难发生了——SN10在着陆几分钟后发生爆炸，在一片火光之中化为了一堆废墟。
报道称，目前尚不清楚此次爆炸的原因。埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）将这次爆炸形容为“RUDs”，即意料外的快速解体。
The full-scale prototype of Elon Musk's envisioned Mars ship soared more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) after lifting off from the southern tip of Texas. It descended horizontally over the Gulf of Mexico and then flipped upright just in time to land.
The shiny bullet-shaped rocketship remained intact this time at touchdown, prompting SpaceX commentator John Insprucker to declare, "third time's a charm as the saying goes" before SpaceX ended its webcast of the test.
But then the Starship exploded and was tossed in the air, before slamming down into the ground in flames.
There was no immediate comment from SpaceX on what went wrong. But Musk looked on the bright side in a tweet: "Starship 10 landed in one piece! RIP SN10, honorable discharge." He added: "SpaceX team is doing great work! One day, the true measure of success will be that Starship flights are commonplace."
美媒报道称，这是该型号火箭第三次发生爆炸。此前，SpaceX分别于当地时间2020年12月9日和2021年2月2日进行了SN8和SN9的原型火箭发射——两次均在降落时爆炸和解体，但试验依然被认定为成功，因为主要目标不是降落，而是检查火箭在空中的动作，包括转向，向地表滑翔时的操控性以及各系统运行情况等。
尽管SN10在着陆后再次发生爆炸，但对SpaceX来说，此次其顺利着陆仍被视为一个重要的里程碑。
“星际飞船”是SpaceX正在研发的下一代飞船，名字取自科幻作品《星际迷航》，全长约49米。“星际飞船”集宇宙飞船、火箭和着陆器于一身，计划将人和货物运送到深空目的地。飞船全身由一种钢合金打造，而它筒仓型的外壳，也是外界关注的焦点。马斯克曾表示，希望“星际飞船”未来能用于运送卫星、全球旅行以及火星移民等。
Musk plans to use Starships to send people to the moon and Mars.
The last two prototypes reached a similarly high altitude in December and February, but slammed into the ground at Boca Chica, Texas, and exploded. Each of these last three test flights lasted 6 1/2 minutes.
