Update 9:55 p.m. EST: SpaceX and NASA scrubbed the launch due to poor weather.

晚上 9:55 更新美東時間：由於天氣惡劣，SpaceX 和 NASA 取消了此次發射。

SpaceX is preparing to launch its second NASA mission of the year on Wednesday morning. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Earth-observing spacecraft PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) was set to liftoff Tuesday morning, but teams had to stand down due to poor weather.

SpaceX 正準備在周三上午發射今年的第二次 NASA 任務。搭載地球觀測太空船 PACE（浮游生物、氣溶膠、雲、海洋生態系統）的獵鷹 9 號火箭原定於週二早上升空，但由於天氣惡劣，團隊不得不暫停。

Teams from NASA, SpaceX and Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD45) are now aiming for the 24-hour backup opportunity: a 1:33 a.m. EST (0633 UTC) liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Feb. 7.

來自NASA、SpaceX 和Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD45) 的團隊現在的目標是獲得24 小時備份機會：東部標準時間凌晨1:33（0633 UTC）從卡納維拉爾角太空部隊的Space Launch Complex 40 ( SLC-40) 升空2月7日車站。

This will be the eighth launch from Florida in 2024 and the seventh for SpaceX from the Space Coast this year. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the mission beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 UTC).

這將是 2024 年從佛羅裡達州進行的第八次發射，也是 SpaceX 今年從太空海岸進行的第七次發射。 Spaceflight Now 將於晚上 11:30 開始對此任務進行現場通報。美國東部時間（0430 世界標準時間）。

The PACE launch will be the first time a U.S. government mission has targeted a polar orbit from Cape Canaveral in more than 60 years. Polar flights were suspended after a cow in Cuba was killed by falling debris from a failed launch in 1960, sparking protests in Havana.

這次 PACE 發射將是 60 多年來美國政府任務首次從卡納維爾角發射極地軌道。 1960 年，古巴一頭牛被發射失敗的碎片砸死，引發哈瓦那抗議，極地航班因此暫停。

“At that point, we as a government decided, let’s just take all our polar launch missions to the West and we’ve successfully launched into the polar orbit hundreds of times since the 60s from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,” said Tim Dunn, the senior launch director for NASA’s Launch Services Program.

鄧恩(Tim Dunn) 表示：「當時，我們作為政府決定，將所有極地發射任務都轉移到西方，自60 年代以來，我們已經從加州范登堡太空部隊基地成功發射了數百次極地軌道。 ” ，美國宇航局發射服務計劃的高級發射總監。

SpaceX resumed launches from the Cape on southerly trajectories in 2020. The company has successfully flown 11 missions into polar orbit from the Florida spaceport without incident.

2020 年，SpaceX 恢復了從開普敦向南軌道的發射。該公司已成功從佛羅裡達州航天港執行 11 次極地軌道飛行任務，沒有發生任何事故。

“Along comes SpaceX a handful of years ago with the autonomous flight safety system and the ability to either bring the first stage booster back to land here at the Cape or land on a droneship off-shore,” Dunn said. “And by a combination of those two things, we were able to then do all of the calculations to protect the public, both here in the U.S. as well as our international neighbors in the Caribbean and especially in Cuba and to get the numbers right where we can now successfully do that.”

鄧恩說：“幾年前，SpaceX 就推出了自主飛行安全系統，並且能夠將第一級助推器帶回好望角著陸，或者降落在離岸的無人駕駛船上。” 「透過將這兩件事結合起來，我們能夠進行所有計算來保護公眾，無論是在美國還是在加勒比地區，特別是在古巴的國際鄰國，並得到正確的數字我們現在可以成功做到這一點。”

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this launch, tail number B1081, will be making its fourth flight. It previously launched the Crew-7 quartet to the ISS as well as a Cargo Dragon and a Starlink mission.

支援此次發射的獵鷹 9 號第一級助推器（尾號 B1081）將進行第四次飛行。此前，該公司曾向國際太空站發射了 Crew-7 四號機以及貨運龍和星鏈任務。

Dunn said their consideration for reflights on a booster has less to do with the basic number as much as it has to do with what kinds of missions it has flown to date.

鄧恩表示，他們對助推器重新飛行的考慮與基本數量關係不大，而是與迄今為止已執行的任務類型有關。

“We don’t look at the number of particular flights of a booster. We look at the qualification status of all the components that go into that booster,” Dunn explained. “We do an evaluation and as long as we do not exceed [qualification] status, and some components do get replaced in between flights, and then we do analysis on some of the structures that are not replaced, we’re comfortable.”

「我們不會考慮助推器的特定飛行次數。我們會檢查該助推器中所有組件的資格狀態，」鄧恩解釋道。 “我們會進行評估，只要我們不超過[資格]狀態，並且在兩次飛行之間確實更換了一些組件，然後我們對一些未更換的結構進行了分析，我們就放心了。”

NASA’s Europa Clipper will be the first time the agency will rely upon boosters that have flown five previous missions. Those Falcon Heavy side boosters most recently supported the launch of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft.

美國太空總署的歐羅巴快艇將是該機構首次依賴已完成五次飛行任務的助推器。這些獵鷹重型側面助推器最近支持了美國宇航局靈神飛船的發射。

Following stage separation, the booster will flip to return for a landing at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at the Cape about 7.5 minutes after liftoff. This will be its third LZ-1 landing out of four flights.

級分離後，助推器將在升空後約 7.5 分鐘翻轉返回，在海角 1 號著陸區 (LZ-1) 著陸。這將是 LZ-1 的四次飛行中的第三次著陸。

This landing will mark the 36th for LZ-1 and the 45th in Florida. Assuming SpaceX doesn’t squeeze in a Starlink launch from VSFB on Monday night and that the PACE mission is successful, this will be the company’s 270th booster landing to date.

此次著陸將是 LZ-1 的第 36 次著陸，也是佛羅裡達州的第 45 次著陸。假設 SpaceX 沒有在周一晚上從 VSFB 進行星鏈發射，並且 PACE 任務成功，這將是該公司迄今為止第 270 次助推器著陸。

The total cost of the mission, between building the spacecraft, the launch operations and the mission support once on orbit, is $948 million, according to Dunn. For the launch services of the Falcon 9 rocket, NASA paid SpaceX about $81 million.

鄧恩表示，這項任務的總成本（包括建造太空船、發射操作和進入軌道後的任務支援）為 9.48 億美元。對於獵鷹 9 號火箭的發射服務，NASA 向 SpaceX 支付了約 8,100 萬美元。

Dunn said they are using new payload fairings on this flight, but are evaluating that possibility for the future.

鄧恩表示，他們在這次飛行中使用了新的有效載荷整流罩，但正在評估未來的可能性。

“We are under evaluation with SpaceX right now and I would anticipate that to happen in the next year-and-a-half or two,” Dunn said. “We’ll see how that goes for the fairing.”

「我們現在正在接受 SpaceX 的評估，我預計這將在未來一兩年內發生，」鄧恩說。 “我們將看看整流罩的情況如何。”

Weather concerns for atmosphere observing mission

As the launch teams were heading towards the launch window overnight, weather remained a watch item. During a prelaunch briefing with press, Brian Cizek, a launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron for the U.S. Space Force, said the probability of violating weather was 60 percent for the Tuesday morning launch opportunity.

大氣觀測任務的天氣問題當發射團隊連夜駛向發射窗口時，天氣仍是觀察項目。美國太空軍第 45 氣像中隊的發射氣象官員布萊恩·西澤克 (Brian Cizek) 在發射前新聞發布會上表示，週二上午的發射機會出現違反氣象規定的可能性為 60%。

“We’re going to see this wind surge kind of come down the Florida coast from north to south. That’s also going to bring some additional moisture into the air,” Cizek said. “So, a few concerns with the launch tonight due to that.”

「我們將看到這股風潮從北向南席捲佛羅裡達海岸。這也會給空氣帶來一些額外的水分，」西澤克說。 “因此，因此對今晚的發布產生了一些擔憂。”

Cizek said the liftoff winds would be “getting close to the limits” around launch time with the winds “increasing as the night progresses.” He said those winds will decrease by Tuesday night, which is partly why the launch forecast improves to only 40 percent chance of violating weather on Wednesday morning.

西澤克表示，發射時的升空風力將“接近極限”，“隨著夜間的進行，風力會增強”。他表示，到週二晚上，風力將會減弱，這就是為什麼發射預報將週三早上出現異常天氣的可能性提高到只有 40% 的部分原因。

He also said forecasters with SLD45 also have concerns about showers along the coastline creating a violation of the cumulus cloud rule. The corresponding clouds also bring the thick cloud layers rule into play for this first launch opportunity as well.

他也表示，SLD45 的預報員也擔心海岸線的陣雨會違反積雲規則。相應的雲層也使厚雲層規則在首次發射機會中發揮作用。

“The thing for the backup day, the major concern will again be the liftoff winds. We said they kind of peak during the morning and early afternoon on Tuesday and then when they do begin to decrease again as we head into Tuesday evening,” Cizek said. “And then the weather just continues to improve as we get beyond that.”

「備份日的主要問題將再次是起飛風。我們說，它們在周二早上和下午早些時候達到頂峰，然後當我們進入周二晚上時，它們確實開始下降，」Cizek 說。 “然後，當我們超越這個目標時，天氣就會繼續好轉。”

Expanding ocean and atmosphere understanding

The PACE mission is designed to last three years nominally, but carries enough fuel to support a 10-year mission. NASA will reevaluate things about every three years to determine if they are able to and desire to extend the mission.

擴大對海洋和大氣的了解 PACE 任務名義上設計持續三年，但攜帶的燃料足以支持 10 年的任務。美國宇航局將大約每三年重新評估一次，以確定他們是否能夠並願意延長任務。

The goal of the Earth-observing spacecraft will be to increase our understanding of the interplay of the oceans and the atmosphere through the lens of some of the tiniest parts of each: phytoplankton and aerosols.

地球觀測太空船的目標是透過浮游植物和氣溶膠等海洋和大氣中最微小的部分的鏡頭，增進我們對海洋和大氣之間相互作用的了解。

“These micro-algae that are at the base of the marine food chain, they serve our fisheries and serve the health of the oceans, but they can also be toxic and we need to know that too,” said Karen St. Germain, the director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “They’re also responsible, through photosynthesis, for absorbing a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide and converting that into oxygen in the atmosphere.”

「這些微藻位於海洋食物鏈的底部，它們為我們的漁業和海洋健康服務，但它們也可能有毒，我們也需要知道這一點，」凱倫·圣杰曼說，美國宇航局地球科學部主任。 “它們還通過光合作用吸收大量二氧化碳並將其轉化為大氣中的氧氣。”

“We’re also looking at tiny things in the atmosphere. These are called aerosols. they’re tiny particles that play an enormous role in our weather, our air quality and even our climate,” she added. “They come from sources like dust flowing off the Sahara, wildfires and even human activities. They seed clouds that can grow into hurricanes coming across the Atlantic, but they also reflect a lot of the Sun’s energy. So, they play an important role in the long-term stability of Earth’s climate.”

「我們也在觀察大氣中的微小事物。這些被稱為氣溶膠。它們是微小的顆粒，對我們的天氣、空氣品質甚至氣候起著巨大的作用，」她補充道。 「它們的來源包括撒哈拉沙漠的塵埃、野火甚至人類活動。它們產生的雲可以發展成橫跨大西洋的颶風，但它們也反射了大量的太陽能量。因此，它們對地球氣候的長期穩定發揮著重要作用。”

St. Germain said the mission builds on both 20 years of NASA’s work observing the oceans and more than 60 years of overall NASA Earth observation. She noted that understanding these systems and their interplay is not only important for advancing scientific understanding, but it also has a big role for the U.S. economy.

St. Germain 表示，這項任務建立在 NASA 20 年海洋觀測工作和 60 多年整體地球觀測工作的基礎上。她指出，了解這些系統及其相互作用不僅對於推動科學理解很重要，對美國經濟也具有重要作用。

“The ocean economy makes up over $350 billion of our gross domestic product per year. It employs 3.1 million people in our country, but it can also experience adverse impacts from things like harmful algal blooms, which can cost $50 million a year or more,” St. Germain said. “So, the work we’re doing with PACE and the work we do in Earth Science is about making observations to help us understand the Earth System, capturing that understanding in models and predictive tools and putting that information into the hands of people who can use it to make better decisions every day.”

「海洋經濟每年占我們國內生產毛額超過 3500 億美元。它在我國僱用了 310 萬人，但它也可能遭受有害藻華等不利影響，每年可能造成 5000 萬美元或更多的損失，」St. Germain 說。 「因此，我們在PACE 中所做的工作以及我們在地球科學中所做的工作是進行觀測，以幫助我們了解地球系統，在模型和預測工具中捕捉這種理解，並將這些資訊交到能夠幫助我們的人們手中。每天用它做出更好的決策。”