美国第一艘私人月球着陆器在前往月球的途中遭遇“严重”燃料泄漏

Astrobotic's Peregrine packed with NASA science gear and other payloads may be a bust

The first commercial American Moon lander – built by startup Astrobotic to carry NASA instruments and private payloads to the lunar surface – is in trouble: the spacecraft's propulsion system malfunctioned shortly after launch on Monday.

Astrobotic 搭载 NASA 科学装备和其他有效载荷的 Peregrine 可能会失败第一个商业美国月球着陆器——由初创公司 Astrobotic 建造，用于将 NASA 仪器和私人有效载荷运送到月球表面——遇到了麻烦：航天器的推进系统在周一发射后不久就出现故障。

Selected for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, US-based Astrobotic was poised to become the first-ever company to successfully land on the surface of the Moon, a feat that has only been achieved by governmental space agencies in America, the Soviet Union, China, and India so far.

总部位于美国的 Astrobotic 被选为 NASA 商业月球有效载荷服务 (CLPS) 计划的一员，有望成为第一家成功登陆月球表面的公司，这一壮举只有美国政府航天机构才能实现。到目前为止，还有苏联、中国和印度。

The company's Peregrine Lunar Lander suffered an anomaly and was forced to enter safe mode, despite being successfully launched into space earlier in the day.

尽管该公司的游隼月球着陆器已于当天早些时候成功发射到太空，但仍出现异常并被迫进入安全模式。

"Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant," Astrobotic said in its latest update.

Astrobotic 在最新更新中表示：“不幸的是，推进系统内的故障似乎导致了推进剂的严重损失。”

"The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time."

“该团队正在努力稳定这种损失，但考虑到这种情况，我们优先考虑最大限度地利用我们可以捕获的科学和数据。我们目前正在评估目前可能可行的替代任务方案。”

At 0218 ET (0718 UTC) the upstart's Peregrine Lunar Lander was launched atop the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA.

东部时间 0218（世界标准时间 0718），这家新贵的游隼月球着陆器在联合发射联盟的火神火箭上从美国佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角太空部队站发射升空。

The mission was off to a good start. Astrobotic confirmed its spacecraft had separated from the Vulcan rocket around 500 kilometres above the Earth.

这次任务有了一个良好的开端。 Astrobotic 确认其航天器已与距离地球约 500 公里的火神火箭分离。

The Peregrine Lunar Lander turned on and was connected to NASA's Deep Space Network to exchange telemetry signals.

游隼月球着陆器启动并连接到美国宇航局的深空网络以交换遥测信号。

NASA science bound for Moon after successful Vulcan Centaur launch
成功发射火神半人马后，美国宇航局科学将前往月球
NASA's VIPER is half-built, with launch plans for this year
NASA 的 VIPER 已建成一半，计划于今年发射
Another day, another delay to first Vulcan Centaur launch
又一天，首次火神半人马发射再次推迟
America's ambitious Artemis III likely to miss 2025 Moon landing date, auditors sigh
审计人员叹息，美国雄心勃勃的阿耳忒弥斯 III 号可能会错过 2025 年登月日期

Problems began, however, when the Peregrine failed to orient its solar panels toward the Sun. Mission control adjusted the craft's position, allowing Peregrine's batteries to begin charging, but, with a lack of propellant and the unspecified propulsion system flaw, the lander probably won't be able to attempt a soft touchdown on the Moon.

然而，当游隼号未能将其太阳能电池板朝向太阳时，问题就开始了。任务控制中心调整了飞船的位置，允许游隼号的电池开始充电，但是，由于缺乏推进剂和未指明的推进系统缺陷，着陆器可能无法尝试在月球上软着陆。

Unfortunately, that means the 20 payloads sent by space agencies, universities, and private customers around the world, attached to the Peregrine Lunar Lander, will also – shall we say – fail to be used as specified. NASA will lose a laser retroreflector array, and four different spectrometers designed to study the lunar exospheres and soil as well as monitor radiation levels.

不幸的是，这意味着世界各地的航天机构、大学和私人客户发送的附着在游隼月球着陆器上的 20 个有效载荷，我们可以说，也将无法按规定使用。美国宇航局将失去一个激光后向反射器阵列和四个不同的光谱仪，旨在研究月球外逸层和土壤以及监测辐射水平。

Meanwhile, Germany and Mexico's respective radiation detector and small robots will likely be destroyed too. Other payloads include time capsules, artwork, books, music, and cryptocurrency sent by private companies from the UK, Japan, Canada, Hungary, the Seychelles, and Argentina.

与此同时，德国和墨西哥各自的辐射探测器和小型机器人也可能被摧毁。其他有效负载包括由来自英国、日本、加拿大、匈牙利、塞舌尔和阿根廷的私营公司发送的时间胶囊、艺术品、书籍、音乐和加密货币。

The US space agency's administrator Bill Nelson had warned that Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One was risky.

美国航天局局长比尔·尼尔森警告说，Astrobotic 的游隼一号任务存在风险。

"These high-risk missions will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation," he said after the launch.

他在发射后表示：“这些高风险任务不仅将在月球上进行新的科学研究，而且还将支持不断增长的商业太空经济，同时展示美国的技术和创新实力。”

"We have so much science to learn through CLPS missions that will help us better understand the evolution of our solar system and shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation."

“通过 CLPS 任务，我们有很多科学知识需要学习，这将帮助我们更好地了解太阳系的演化，并塑造阿尔忒弥斯一代人类探索的未来。”

It's not clear where the spacecraft is right now and what will happen if and when it loses all its fuel, but it doesn't look like it'll get a chance to attempt a happy landing on the Moon. The Register has asked Astrobotic for comment. ®

目前尚不清楚航天器现在在哪里，以及如果它失去所有燃料会发生什么，但看起来它没有机会尝试在月球上快乐着陆。 The Register 已要求 Astrobotic 发表评论。 ®

Updated to add at 2200 UTC

Here's the latest from Astrobotic: It's received a snap from the craft, which confirmed there was a problem with the propulsion system judging by the state of an insulation layer. See below.

更新于 2200 UTC 这是来自 Astrobotic 的最新消息：它收到了来自飞船的快照，从绝缘层的状态来看，确认推进系统存在问题。见下文。

The team wrote:

该团队写道：

We’ve received the first image from Peregrine in space! The camera utilized is mounted atop a payload deck and shows Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) in the foreground. The disturbance of the MLI is the first visual clue that aligns with our telemetry data pointing to a propulsion system anomaly.

我们收到了游隼号在太空中发出的第一张图像！所使用的摄像机安装在有效载荷甲板上，并在前景中显示多层绝缘（MLI）。 MLI 的干扰是第一个视觉线索，与我们指向推进系统异常的遥测数据一致。

Nonetheless, the spacecraft’s battery is now fully charged, and we are using Peregrine’s existing power to perform as many payload and spacecraft operations as possible.

尽管如此，航天器的电池现在已经充满电，我们正在利用游隼现有的电力来执行尽可能多的有效载荷和航天器操作。

The biz also said its operators had been awake and working for more than 24 hours by this point. So, dunno, cut them some slack?

该公司还表示，此时其操作员已经醒着并工作了超过 24 小时。那么，不知道，让他们放松一下吗？