文本选自：The Economist（经济学人）
作者：Unknown
原文标题：SpaceX’s monstrous, dirt-cheap Starship may transform space travel
原文发布时间：18 Apr. 2023
SpaceX's monstrous, dirt-cheap Starship may transform space travel
When it comes to size and spectacle, the peak of the Space Age passed in 1973, with the final flight of the Saturn V Rocket that had carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Saturn V could lug 140 tonnes into orbit. Its first flight, in 1967, provoked Walter Cronkite, an American news anchor reporting far from the pad, to exclaim: "My God, our building's shaking here!" as ceiling tiles fell around him. Half a century later, nothing as powerful has reached orbit since.
Not far from Boca Chica, a Texan hamlet a couple of miles from the Mexican border, SpaceX, a rocketry firm founded by Elon Musk, is developing a machine that it hopes will change that. Built from gleaming stainless steel, with its nose adorned with fins and ten metres taller than even the Saturn V, Starship looks like something from the cover of a 1950s pulp science-fiction magazine. Its planned payload of up to 150 tonnes means that five Starship flights could put more stuff into space than the rest of the world managed with 135 rocket launches in 2021. Its upper stage contains more pressurised volume than the International Space Station, which took a decade, dozens of launches and perhaps $100bn to assemble.
But it is not just the size that matters. When a Saturn V took off to send men to the Moon, the only bit of the 2,800 tonnes of hardware which came back was a cramped five-tonne capsule with three men inside. Each new mission meant a new Saturn V. With Starship, the idea is that all the hardware will come back: the massive booster stage almost immediately, the second, orbital stage after fulfilling whatever mission it had been sent on.
SpaceX公司巨无霸、低造价“星际飞船”可能会改变太空旅行
精听党背景导读
SpaceX公司正在研发的“星际飞船”有许多潜在的用途和能力，将使个人和组织以前所未有的方式进入太空。
SpaceX的工程师们正在德克萨斯州博卡奇卡海滩的星际基地（Starbase）开发这种完全可重复使用的“星际飞船”发射系统。可重复使用的特性将使SpaceX能够降低太空飞行的成本，并将使人类能够长期在太空持续存在成为现实。
文本选自：The Economist（经济学人）作者：Unknown原文标题：SpaceX’s monstrous, dirt-cheap Starship may transform space travel原文发布时间：18 Apr. 2023关键词：土星5号 火箭 太空
精听党带着问题听
1.“地球轨道”用英语可以如何表达？2. 如何理解第一段的“news anchor”？3. 星际飞船计划的有效载荷是多少？
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
SpaceX’s monstrous, dirt-cheap Starship may transform space travel
SpaceX公司巨无霸、低造价“星际飞船”可能会改变太空旅行
monstrous adj. 不公正道德的，残忍的；巨大的，庞大的；丑陋的，骇人的；1. His monstrous pearl was extremely valuable. 他那颗巨大的珍珠价值连城。
dirt-cheap adj. 毫无价值的；贱如粪土的；非常便宜的；1. Despite what people think, not all of Taobao is “dirt-cheap”. 不管人们怎么想，并不是所有的淘宝货都特别便宜。
transform vt. 使改观，使变形，使转化；
段一
When it comes to size and spectacle, the peak of the Space Age passed in 1973, with the final flight of the Saturn V Rocket that had carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Saturn V could lug 140 tonnes into orbit. Its first flight, in 1967, provoked Walter Cronkite, an American news anchor reporting far from the pad, to exclaim: “My God, our building’s shaking here!” as ceiling tiles fell around him. Half a century later, nothing as powerful has reached orbit since.
spectacle n. 精彩的表演，壮观的场面；壮观的景象；不寻常的事；1. It was a spectacle not to be missed. 它是不可错过的奇观。
peak n. 巅峰，顶点；山顶，尖顶峰值；1. peak value 峰值；
Saturn n. 土星；1. Saturn is the second biggest planet in the solar system. 土星是太阳系中第二大行星。
lug vt. 用力拉或拖；1. I had to lug my bags up to the fifth floor. 我只得费劲地把我的几个包拖上五楼。
orbit n.（环绕地球、太阳等运行的）轨道；1. in orbit 在轨道上；在轨道上运行；2. earth orbit 地球轨道；3. The orientation of the planet's orbit is changing continuously. 行星轨道的方向在不断地变化。
provoke vt. 激起，引起；激励，刺激；挑衅，激怒；1. Dairy products may provoke allergic reactions in some people. 乳制品可能会引起某些人的过敏反应。
news anchor 新闻主播；1. As a news anchor, I was responsible for what we put on the air each day. 作为一名新闻主播，我负责我们每天播出的内容。
pad n. 发射台；
exclaim vt. 呼喊，惊叫，大声说；
tile n. 瓷砖；
参考译文
说到尺寸和奇观，太空时代的顶峰在1973年就已经过去了，那是运送阿波罗宇航员登月的土星五号火箭的最后一次飞行。土星五号比自由女神像还高，可以将140吨的东西拖入轨道。它在1967年的首次飞行引发了美国新闻主播沃尔特·克朗凯特（Walter Cronkite）的感叹：“我的上帝，我们的大楼在这里都在摇晃！”说这话的时候，他周围的天花板瓦片一直往下掉落。半个世纪之后，没有任何像这样强大的东西到达过轨道。
段二
Not far from Boca Chica, a Texan hamlet a couple of miles from the Mexican border, SpaceX, a rocketry firm founded by Elon Musk, is developing a machine that it hopes will change that. Built from gleaming stainless steel, with its nose adorned with fins and ten metres taller than even the Saturn V, Starship looks like something from the cover of a 1950s pulp science-fiction magazine. Its planned payload of up to 150 tonnes means that five Starship flights could put more stuff into space than the rest of the world managed with 135 rocket launches in 2021. Its upper stage contains more pressurised volume than the International Space Station, which took a decade, dozens of launches and perhaps $100bn to assemble.
rocketry n. 火箭学，火箭技术；火箭（集合称）；火箭研究；1. Their research in rocketry blazed the way for space travel. 他们在火箭技术方面的研究为太空旅行开辟了道路。
gleaming adj. 闪闪发光的；1. a gleaming set of white teeth 一排亮晶晶的白牙齿；
stainless steel 不锈钢；
adorn vt. 装饰；使生色；
fin n. (飞机、火箭、炸弹等的) 翼；散热片；
pulp n. 浆状物；纸浆；通俗（或耸人听闻）的劣质作品；
payload n.（导弹、火箭等的）有效载荷，有效负荷；
assemble vi. 集合，聚集；装配，组装；
参考译文
在离墨西哥边境几英里的德克萨斯州小村庄博卡奇卡不远的地方，埃隆·马斯克创办的火箭公司SpaceX正在开发一种机器，它希望能改变这种状况。星际飞船由闪闪发光的不锈钢制成，其头部由散热片组装而成，甚至比土星五号还要高10米，看起来就像20世纪50年代的劣质科幻杂志封面上的东西。它计划的有效载荷高达150吨，这意味着五次“星舰”飞行可以将更多的东西送入太空，比世界上其他国家在2021年发射的135次火箭还要多。它的上级包含的加压容积比国际空间站还要多，而国际空间站花了十年时间，进行了数十次发射，也许花了1000亿美元才组装完成。
段三
But it is not just the size that matters. When a Saturn V took off to send men to the Moon, the only bit of the 2,800 tonnes of hardware which came back was a cramped five-tonne capsule with three men inside. Each new mission meant a new Saturn V. With Starship, the idea is that all the hardware will come back: the massive booster stage almost immediately, the second, orbital stage after fulfilling whatever mission it had been sent on.
cramped adj. 狭窄的；难懂的；难辨的；1. a cramped room 拥挤的房子；
capsule n. 胶囊；小容器；太空舱，航天舱；1. A Russian space capsule is currently orbiting the Earth. 一个俄罗斯太空舱目前正环绕地球飞行。
massive booster 巨大的助推器；
参考译文
但重要的不仅仅是尺寸。当土星五号起飞将人类送上月球时，2800吨的硬件中唯一回来的是一个狭窄的5吨的太空舱，里面有三个人。每一次新的任务都意味着一个新的土星五号。有了星际飞船，我们的想法是所有的硬件都会回来：巨大的助推器阶段几乎是立即回来的，第二轨道阶段在完成了它被派去的任何任务后回来。
精听党每日单词
monstrous
/ˈmɑːnstrəs/ adj. 不公正道德的，残忍的；巨大的，庞大的；丑陋的，骇人的；
dirt-cheap
/ˌdɜːrt ˈtʃiːp/ adj. 毫无价值的；贱如粪土的；非常便宜的；
transform
/trænsˈfɔːrm/ vt. 使改观，使变形，使转化；
spectacle
/ˈspektək(ə)l/ n. 精彩的表演，壮观的场面；壮观的景象；不寻常的事；
peak
/piːk/ n. 巅峰，顶点；山顶，尖顶峰值；
Saturn
/ˈsætɜːrn/ n. 土星；
lug
/lʌɡ/ vt. 用力拉或拖；
orbit
/ˈɔːrbɪt/ n.（环绕地球、太阳等运行的）轨道；
provoke
/prəˈvoʊk/ vt. 激起，引起；激励，刺激；挑衅，激怒；
news anchor
新闻主播；
pad
/pæd/ n. 发射台；
exclaim
/ɪkˈskleɪm/ vt. 呼喊，惊叫，大声说；
tile
/taɪl/ n. 瓷砖；
rocketry
/ˈrɑːkɪtri/ n. 火箭学，火箭技术；火箭（集合称）；火箭研究；
gleaming
/ˈɡliːmɪŋ/ adj. 闪闪发光的；
stainless steel
不锈钢；
adorn
/əˈdɔːrn/ vt. 装饰；使生色；
fin
/fɪn/ n. (飞机、火箭、炸弹等的) 翼；散热片；
pulp
/pʌlp/ n. 浆状物；纸浆；通俗（或耸人听闻）的劣质作品；
payload
/ˈpeɪloʊd/ n.（导弹、火箭等的）有效载荷，有效负荷；
assemble
/əˈsemb(ə)l/ vi. 集合，聚集；装配，组装；
cramped
/kræmpt/ adj. 狭窄的；难懂的；难辨的；
capsule
/ˈkæps(ə)l/ n. 胶囊；小容器；太空舱，航天舱；
massive booster
巨大的助推器；
精听党文化拓展
“星际飞船”将推动太空探索的快速发展。在1000立方米的增压舱内，它将能够运送多达100名乘客。根据SpaceX的新闻稿，“星际飞船的机组配置包括私人舱、大型公共区域、集中存储区域、太阳风暴庇护所和观景廊”。在人类航天史上，还真没有哪种宇宙飞船能够运送这么多乘客。
人类已经50年没有踏上月球了，SpaceX计划用“星际飞船”来改变这一现状。美国国家航空航天局（NASA）与SpaceX公司签署了一项人类着陆系统（HLS）协议，以开发一艘月球优化版的星际飞船，该飞船计划在2024年之前将宇航员送上月球。根据SpaceX计划，每个“星际飞船”都将是可居住的“房子”，使宇航员可以将“星际飞船”作为在月球表面建立永久基地的基石。
一旦SpaceX实现了将人类送回月球的里程碑，它的下一个野心勃勃的目标就是殖民火星。“星际飞船”将使第一批宇航员能够踏上这颗红色星球。就长期而言，该公司的最终目标是建造一支“星际飞船”舰队，使人类能够在火星表面建立一个可持续的殖民地。
精听党每日美句
Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years.
每个成功者的后面都有很多不成功的岁月。