美国宇航局寻求新的月球着陆器的想法

NASA has officially put out the call for Moon lander proposals, as it seeks a second human landing system for the Artemis era. The space agency expressed its desire for a second option earlier this year, but the recently announced call for proposals incorporates industry feedback on a draft solicitation issued in March. SpaceX is currently working on a Moon lander for the Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled to happen no earlier than 2025, whereas the second lunar lander would be used on subsequent crewed Artemis missions to the surface.

美国国家航空航天局(NASA)正式发布了月球着陆器提案，为阿尔忒弥斯时代寻找第二个人类着陆系统。今年早些时候，美国航天局表达了对第二种选择的愿望，但最近宣布的提案呼吁包含了行业对3月份发布的征求草案的反馈。SpaceX目前正在为阿耳特弥斯3号任务研制月球着陆器，目前计划不早于2025年实现，而第二个月球着陆器将用于后续的阿耳特弥斯号载人表面任务。

Only U.S. companies are eligible, and their proposed landers need to deliver astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon. The chosen company will have to perform an uncrewed landing on the Moon followed by a crewed landing no earlier than the Artemis 5 mission scheduled for sometime in the late 2020s. The winning company will then be able to compete for future contracts as part of the Artemis program’s later missions.

只有美国公司有资格，他们提出的着陆器需要将宇航员从月球轨道送到月球表面。被选中的公司必须在不早于预定于本世纪20年代末的阿耳特米斯5号任务之前完成无人登月。胜出的公司将能够竞争未来的合同，作为阿尔忒弥斯计划后续任务的一部分。

NASA, through its Artemis program, is seeking to maintain a sustainable presence of humans on the Moon, in which astronauts can go back and forth to the lunar surface and stay there for longer periods of time. The space agency is currently preparing to launch the inaugural Artemis 1 mission, in which an uncrewed Orion capsule will travel around the Moon and back. Artemis 2 would be a repeat but with an actual crew, while Artemis 3 would see the first humans on the lunar surface since the Apollo era.

美国国家航空航天局(NASA)正通过其阿尔忒弥斯计划(Artemis program)寻求在月球上维持可持续的人类存在，这样宇航员就可以往返于月球表面，并在那里停留更长时间。美国宇航局目前正准备发射首次“阿耳特弥斯1号”(Artemis 1)任务，在这一任务中，无人驾驶的猎户座太空舱将绕月飞行并返回。阿耳特弥斯2号将是一个重复，但有一个真正的宇航员，而阿耳特弥斯3号将看到自阿波罗时代以来第一批人类在月球表面。

In April 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to develop the first lunar lander for the Artemis 3 mission. Elon Musk’s private space venture beat out Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Alabama-based Dynetics for the $2.89 billion agreement. SpaceX intends to use its upcoming Starship, a fully-reusable, super-heavy-lift launch vehicle that’s currently under development, for the Artemis 3 lunar landing.

2021年4月，美国宇航局授予SpaceX一份合同，为阿尔忒弥斯3号任务开发首个月球着陆器。埃隆·马斯克的私人太空公司击败了杰夫·贝佐斯的蓝色起源和阿拉巴马州的动力公司，获得了28.9亿美元的协议。SpaceX打算使用即将推出的“星际飞船”(Starship)，这是一种完全可重复使用的超大载重运载火箭，目前正在开发中，用于阿特弥斯3号登月。

However, a year after awarding SpaceX the human landing system contract, NASA announced that it was seeking a second lunar lander. The space agency wants a lander that, in addition to delivering astronauts to the surface, is capable of docking with Lunar Gateway, a planned orbital outpost. It must also allow for crew transfers, an expanded crew, and added storage space for Moon-bound cargo. “I promised competition, so here it is,” Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, said at the time. “Competition leads to better, more reliable outcomes.”

然而，在授予SpaceX载人着陆系统合同的一年后，NASA宣布正在寻求第二个月球着陆器。美国宇航局希望有一个着陆器，除了将宇航员送到月球表面，还能与计划中的月球门户(Lunar Gateway)轨道前哨对接。它还必须允许人员转移，扩充人员，并增加飞往月球的货物的存储空间。“我承诺过竞争，现在就有了，”NASA局长比尔·纳尔逊(Bill Nelson)当时说。“竞争会带来更好、更可靠的结果。”

NASA’s contract with SpaceX has an “option B” which would ask the company “to evolve its current” Artemis 3 Starship design to meet an “extended set of requirements for sustaining missions at the Moon and conduct another crewed demonstration landing,” the space agency wrote. SpaceX will then be eligible to compete for future contracts as well.

美国宇航局写道，NASA与SpaceX的合同中有一个“选项B”，要求该公司“改进目前的”阿特弥斯3号星际飞船设计，以满足“维持月球任务的一系列扩展要求，并进行另一次载人演示着陆”。SpaceX也将有资格竞争未来的合同。

Read more at Nasa.gov

在NASA官网上阅读更多

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