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An American company has used a helicopter to catch a rocket booster in midair as it parachuted back to Earth from space.
美国一家公司使用直升机在火箭助推器通过降落伞从太空返回地球时对其进行捕捉。

The California-based company Rocket Lab carried out the operation. It was designed to demonstrate a method to make rockets reusable. It took place Monday above the South Pacific off New Zealand.
总部位于加州的火箭实验室公司执行了这项操作。它旨在展示一种使火箭可重复使用的方法。这件事于周一发生在新西兰附近的南太平洋上空。

The helicopter was able to successfully grab onto a line attached to the falling rocket. However, the pilot noticed load differences that were not experienced in past tests. The pilot decided¹ to drop the booster in the sea as a safety measure.
直升机成功抓住了与坠落火箭相连的绳索。然而，飞行员注意到负载与过往测试所经历的有所不同。作为安全措施，飞行员决定将助推器抛入大海。

Rocket Lab uses a launch vehicle system called Electron to send satellites into orbit for private companies. The launches are carried out from the Mahia Peninsula, off the eastern coast of New Zealand's North Island.
火箭实验室使用名为电子号的运载火箭系统，为私营企业将卫星送入轨道。这次发射是从新西兰北岛东海岸的马希亚半岛进行的。

Before the capture demonstration², an Electron rocket successfully launched and sent 34 satellites into orbit. After the deployment³, the rocket's main booster began falling to Earth. The booster's speed was slowed to about 10 meters per second by a parachute.
在这次捕获演示之前，一枚电子号火箭成功发射并将34颗卫星送入轨道。完成部署后，火箭的主助推器开始落向地球。助推器的速度被降落伞减慢到大约10米每秒。

The capture method was attempted at about 2,000 meters as the booster fell. The crew used a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter with a long line and hook attached to grab onto the booster's parachute line. The successful capture brought cheers from ground controllers during a live internet broadcast of the event.
这次捕捉尝试发生在助推器下降到大约2000米高度时。机组人员使用了一架西斯科S-92直升机，机上带有一根长绳和钩子，用于抓住助推器的降落伞绳。在这次活动的互联网直播中，成功捕获引发了地面管制员的欢呼。

But about 20 seconds later, sounds of disappointment could be heard from controllers when the pilot let the rocket go.
但是大约20秒后，当飞行员放开了火箭时，可以听到管制员失望的声音。

Rocket Lab said in a statement the decision to drop the booster was linked to "different load characteristics" that the helicopter team detected. Those differences had not been experienced in past tests of the helicopter capture method, the company said.
火箭实验室在一份声明中表示，放弃助推器的决定与直升机团队检测到“不同的负载特性”有关。该公司表示，这些差异在过去的直升机捕获测试中没有出现过。

Even with the unexpected result, Rocket Lab creator and chief executive Peter Beck called the demonstration a big success. "They got a great catch. They just didn't like the way the load was feeling," he told reporters after the attempt.
即使结果出人意料，火箭实验室创始人兼首席执行官彼得·贝克仍称这次演示取得了巨大成功。他在这次尝试后告诉记者：“他们捕捉得很好，只是感觉到负载不对劲。”

Beck noted⁴ that nearly everything else in the demonstration went exactly as planned. He said the unexpected load issue was a small problem that project team members will immediately start studying and working to fix.
贝克指出，演示中的几乎所有其它事情都完全按计划发生。他说，意外负载问题是一个小问题，项目团队成员将立即开始研究并努力解决。

Beck said he hoped the company could still save some or all of the rocket booster, which was recovered from a boat after falling into the sea.
贝克指出，他希望该公司仍然可以回收到部分或全部的火箭助推器，该助推器是在坠海后通过船只回收的。

Rocket Lab says making its rockets reusable will permit the company to increase the number of launches it makes and reduce costs.
火箭实验室表示，使其火箭可重复使用将允许该公司增加发射次数并降低成本。

American company SpaceX designed the first reusable orbital rocket, the Falcon⁵ 9. The rocket uses a different recovery method to make its boosters reusable. The SpaceX boosters use engine power to guide themselves onto floating platforms in the sea.
美国太空探索技术公司设计了第一枚可重复使用的轨道火箭猎鹰9号。该火箭使用一种不同的回收方法使其助推器可重复使用，美国太空探索技术公司的助推器使用发动机动力引导自身降落在海上的浮动平台上。