SpaceX卫星运载火箭回收失败

 　　SpaceX announced a successful satellite launch on Sunday — but failed an attempted sea-landing of a rocket booster, missing a goal that has repeatedly eluded¹ the grasp of the Los Angeles-based rocket company.

　　总部位于旧金山的火箭公司SpaceX上周日宣布成功发射一颗卫星，但未能在海上成功回收火箭推进器，没有完成该公司多次未能完成的目标。

　　Elon Musk²’s SpaceX has been focused on mastering the art of returning booster rockets on Earth after a launch, in the hope this will enable the company to lower costs by re-using these rockets.

　　艾伦氠斯科(Elon Musk)旗下的SpaceX一直关注于在火箭发射后在地球上回收火箭推进器的技术，希望能够通过火箭再利用令该公司降低成本。

　　Sunday’s launch from Vandenberg Air Force base in California put a climate-change monitoring satellite, the Jason-3, in orbit around the North and South Poles. The satellite, sponsored by US and European agencies, will be used to monitor sea levels.

　　上周日该公司从加州凡登堡空军基地发射火箭，成功将一枚监测气候变化的卫星“Jason-3”送入南北极附近的轨道上。这枚卫星由欧美机构赞助，将用于监测海平面。

　　However the return of the booster was less successful. Images showed the rocket lying on its side on the sea dock after apparently³ falling over during landing. The rocket tipped over after one of its four landing legs failed to lock, said founder⁴ Elon Musk in a Tweet.

　　然而，火箭推进器的返回却不那么成功。图像显示，火箭在着陆过程中明显倾倒，一侧撞在海上回收平台上。艾伦氠斯科在Tweet上发文称，火箭是在4个着陆架中的其中一个未能锁定后倾倒的。

　　Although SpaceX had its first successful landing of a reusable booster on land just last month, sea landings have proven to be more challenging. Sunday’s mishap⁵ follows two failed sea landings last year.

　　就在上月，SpaceX曾首次成功将一枚火箭推进器在地面着陆，但事实证明，海上着陆更具挑战性。在上周日火箭着陆失败前，该公司去年曾两次海上着陆失败。

　　Mastering the sea landings is important because it would give a company such as SpaceX greater flexibility⁶ in terms of where to land its rockets.

　　掌握海上着陆的技术很重要，因为这将令SpaceX等公司在将火箭在何处着陆方面获得更多灵活性。

　　The company has suffered bigger setbacks before this, such as when a rocket exploded in mid-air last June.

　　SpaceX此前曾遭受更严重挫折，例如，去年6月一枚火箭在空中爆炸。

　　SpaceX recently won a six-year cargo⁷ contract worth as much as $14bn from Nasa, along with Sierra Nevada and Orbital. SpaceX has also won a contract to help Nasa deliver astronauts to the International Space Station, along with Boeing.

　　SpaceX与波音(Boeing)赢得一项合约，将帮助美国国家航空航天局(NASA)将宇航员送入国际空间站(International Space Station)。

1 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。