因推進器故障和氦氣洩漏問題，搭乘“星際客機”飛船抵達國際空間站的兩名美國宇航員已在太空停留一月有餘。據美媒7月10日報道，兩名宇航員當天在太空中舉行“滯留”以來首次簡報會，稱仍對安全返程充滿信心，並不抱怨在空間站多待了幾周。
The two NASA astronauts who flew in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station last month said Wednesday that they have no concerns the capsule will be able to fly them home safely, even as their return has been postponed indefinitely while NASA and Boeing struggle to determine what caused a series of thruster failures and helium leaks.
據報道，58歲的蘇妮·威廉姆斯（Suni Williams）透過電話與媒體連線說：“我有一種很好的感覺，這艘飛船會帶我們回家，沒有問題。”她此行的搭檔、61歲的巴里·威爾莫爾（Barry Wilmore）也表示：“我們絕對有信心，就像你們聽過的那句格言，失敗不是一個選項。”
In a short press briefing from the space station, Barry “Butch” Wilmore, a veteran of two previous spaceflights said that “we're absolutely confident” in the return trip and that despite the issues on the way to the station, Starliner was “truly impressive”. “Failure is not an option,” Wilmore said.Sunita Williams, who is also on her third spaceflight, said she has “a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem.”
7月10日，威廉姆斯（左）和威爾莫爾（右）在國際空間站接受媒體提問
威廉姆斯稱，二人在太空中“很開心”。“布奇和我以前都來過這裡，所以（待在軌道實驗室）感覺就像回家一樣。四處漂浮的感覺很好，在太空中與國際空間站團隊一起工作的感覺很好，我們不會抱怨在這裡多待了幾個星期。”
Williams said being on the orbiting laboratory “feels like coming back home. It feels good to float around. It feels good to be in space and work up here with the International Space Station team. So yeah, it’s great to be up here. I'm not complaining that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”
據瞭解，按照原計劃，巴里·威爾莫爾和蘇尼·威廉姆斯本應在國際空間站停留大約一週時間，執行測試“星際客機”效能等任務，並於6月14日脫離國際空間站返回地球。但由於遭遇氦氣洩漏及部分推進器故障等問題，他們的返程日期一拖再拖，甚至被無限期推遲。NASA稱兩名宇航員很安全，國際空間站補給充足。
The pair were initially expected to spend one week aboard the ISS evaluating the spacecraft and its systems and return June 14. However, Starliner's mechanical issues left the astronauts stuck onboard the ISS with no set return date.NASA has insisted Wilmore and Williams are safe while they remain onboard the ISS with the Expedition 71 crew. The agency has said the ISS has plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station's schedule is relatively open through mid-August.
威爾莫爾在簡報會上回憶道，6月6日他手動控制飛船接近空間站時，他“能感覺到推力下降了，當時我們還不知道是什麼原因”，但體驗仍然“令人印象深刻”。
According to Wilmore, as he took over manual control of the autonomous spacecraft as it approached the station June 6, he “could tell that the thrust was degraded,” he said. “At the time, we didn't know why, obviously. The failures had just happened. You could tell it was degraded, but it was still impressive.”
路透社說，在與空間站對接之前，“星際客機”的28個推進器中有5個出現故障（後4個恢復工作），1個推進器閥門沒有正常關閉，用於推進器加壓的氦氣也出現了5次洩漏。
本週，NASA和波音的工程專家據悉正在美國新墨西哥州的白沙導彈靶場對“星際客機”推進器故障進行地面復現，以查明為何某些推進器出現了過熱、停止工作等問題。與此同時，在位於亞拉巴馬州的NASA馬歇爾航天中心，專家也已著手調查“星際客機”的推進系統為何會出現氦氣洩漏。
NASA and Boeing are continuing to conduct ground tests to see if they can figure out why five of the spacecraft's “reaction control thrusters,” which are used to position the vehicle, stopped working during the approach to the station. Four of the five thrusters ultimately came back online and worked properly, allowing Starliner to successfully dock. NASA has said it won't attempt to use the fifth thruster on the return trip. The spacecraft is outfitted with a total of 28 such thrusters on the service module, which is used to provide power and much of the vehicle's propulsion.
另據路透社10日報道，NASA商業載人專案經理史蒂夫·斯蒂克（Steve Stich）在當晚另一場媒體電話會上表示，新墨西哥州推進器測試的結果“與期望的不太一樣”。
斯蒂克稱，他希望推進器的地面測試能在本週完成。根據他的說法，如果所有測試都表明推進器沒有出現重大問題，那麼“星際客機”最早可以在7月底返回。但他補充：“但我們會一步一步跟蹤資料，然後在正確的時間找出正確的脫離對接機會。”斯蒂克早前曾表示，測試可能需要持續“幾周”時間。
In a separate briefing Wednesday, Steve Stich, who oversees NASA's commercial crew program, said that if all the testing reveals no major issues with the thrusters, the crew could return as early as the end of July. “But we'll just follow the data each step at a time, and then at the right time, figure out when the right undock opportunity is,” he said.
NASA表示，“星際客機”的電池壽命為45天，這意味著該飛船最多在國際空間站上停留45天（到7月21日），但如果使用備用系統，則可停留90天。理論上說，飛船停靠空間站時一直保持充電狀態，電池在90天后的執行狀態應該不受影響，但有媒體表示這在很大程度上取決於鋰離子電池的健康狀況，該問題在過去曾引起過擔憂。
來源：觀察者網 華盛頓郵報 美國廣播公司
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