双语对照NASA将于2022年进行柔性充气减速器首次轨道试验

　　来源nasatv
　　The flexible thermal protection system contains two outer surface layers made of ceramic fiber fabric, several layers of insulator, and then a gas barrier that prevents hot gases from getting to directly to the inflatable structure. The inflatable structure is a high temperature capable, flexible structure that is inflated to provide the cone shape that the FTPS drapes over.
　　柔性热保护系统包括两层由陶瓷纤维织物制成的外表面，几层绝缘体，然后是防止热气直接进入充气结构的气体屏障。充气结构是一种耐高温的柔性结构，可充气以提供FTPS覆盖的圆锥形。
　　A NASA technology that could one day help land humans on Mars is about to head into final integration and testing before an orbital flight test next year.
　　美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的一项技术有朝一日可能会帮助人类登上火星，该技术即将进入最终集成和测试阶段，明年将进行轨道飞行测试。
　　The LOFTID flight aeroshell recently arrived at NASA＂s Langley Research Center where it will be integrated with other flight components and put through environmental testing prior to launch next year.
　　LOFTID飞行飞机外壳最近抵达美国宇航局兰利研究中心，在那里它将与其他飞行部件集成在一起，并在明年发射之前进行环境测试。
　　Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) are complete and recently arrived at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. At Langley, engineers will test the complete system to ensure LOFTID is flight ready.
　　The inflatable decelerator is scheduled to launch with a polar-orbiting satellite in September 2022. After the satellite makes its way to orbit, LOFTID will descend back to Earth from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can slow down and survive re-entry.
　　Hardware Progress
　　The flexible thermal protection system provides layers of material to protect the entire LOFTID re-entry vehicle from the extreme heat of atmospheric entry. It was built by Jackson Bond Enterprises, a small business in Dover, New Hampshire. In May, it was shipped to Airborne Systems in Santa Ana, California. That’s where the inflatable structure, the stacked ring assembly that maintains the shape of the aeroshell, was built and tested. The two components were then integrated to make up the complete aeroshell and load tested to ensure the structures will perform as expected during flight.
　　Before shipping to Langley, the integrated components were painstakingly packed – an intensive process in which the aeroshell is gathered in a particular way, turned upside down, gathered again, cinched by hand, flipped again, and then put into a hydraulic ram. The ram is a machine that presses it until it is almost as dense as wood and can be restrained to this much smaller shape. The entire re-entry vehicle will be compressed into a configuration for shipping and launch that’s about 4 feet in diameter by 7 feet long, compared to 20 feet in diameter by 5 feet long when deployed.
　　Next, the aeroshell will be integrated with the rest of the re-entry vehicle. The vehicle is comprised of several segments that link the inflatable structure to the inflation system, avionics, or flight electronics, ejectable data recorder, and parachute system.
　　The forward segment, which connects the inflatable structure to the inflation system, is complete. The inflation system, which will slowly expand the inflatable structure to shape before re-entry, is nearing completion. The team will install avionics into the inflation system and then stack it with the mid-segment, which contains the interface to the rocket, along with critical power, control, and data acquisition electronics. Then, the aft segment, which houses the ejectable data recorder, cameras, and the parachute system, will be assembled. Parts of the aft segment are already in work at Airborne where they＂re performing tests on the parachute system, at Langley and various contractors where its structures are being fabricated, and at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the camera systems were completed and tested.
　　充气减速器(LOFTID)的近地轨道飞行测试已经完成，最近抵达弗吉尼亚州汉普顿的NASA兰利研究中心。在兰利，工程师们将测试完整的系统，以确保LOFTID已经为飞行做好了准备。
　　充气减速器计划于2022年9月与一颗极地轨道卫星一起发射。卫星进入轨道后，LOFTID将从近地轨道返回地球，以展示充气空壳或隔热罩可以减速并在重返大气层中幸存下来。
　　硬件进度
　　灵活的热保护系统提供了多层材料，以保护整个LOFTID再入飞行器免受大气进入的极端高温。它是由杰克逊·邦德企业建造的，这是一家位于新罕布夏州多佛市的小企业。今年5月，它被运往加利福尼亚州圣安娜的空载系统公司(Airborne Systems)。这就是充气结构，也就是保持飞机外壳形状的堆积环组件，就是在那里建造和测试的。然后，这两个部件被整合在一起，组成了完整的飞机外壳，并进行了载荷测试，以确保结构在飞行过程中将按预期运行。
　　在运往兰利之前，集成的组件经过了艰苦的包装-这是一个密集的过程，以特定的方式收集空壳，将其颠倒，再次收集，手工捆绑，再次翻转，然后放入液压冲头。冲头是一种机器，它把它压得几乎像木头一样致密，并可以约束成这个小得多的形状。整个重返大气层飞行器将被压缩成直径约4英尺乘以7英尺长的结构用于运输和发射，而部署时的直径为20英尺乘以5英尺长。
　　下一步，气球将与返回器的其余部分集成在一起。飞行器由几个部分组成，这些部分将充气结构与充气系统、航空电子设备或飞行电子设备、可弹射数据记录器和降落伞系统连接起来。
　　连接充气结构和充气系统的前段已经完成。通胀系统已接近尾声，该系统将慢慢扩大充气结构，使其在重返大气层前成型。该团队将把航空电子设备安装到充气系统中，然后将其与中间部分堆叠在一起，中间部分包含与火箭的接口，以及关键的功率、控制和数据采集电子设备。然后，容纳可弹出数据记录器、摄像机和降落伞系统的后部部分将被组装。后部部分已经在空降公司(Airborne)进行降落伞系统测试，兰利和各种承包商正在制造降落伞结构，阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔(Huntsville)的美国国家航空航天局(NASA)马歇尔太空飞行中心(Marshall Space Flight Center)也在那里完成并测试摄像系统。
　　这张LOFTID再入飞行器的分解图显示了组成各个部分的每个部件。
　　Later this year, all the components of the re-entry vehicle will be integrated and put through a battery of environmental tests in preparation for delivery to United Launch Alliance (ULA).
　　Mission Dedication
　　NASA and ULA are dedicating the LOFTID mission in honor of Mr. Bernard Kutter, manager of advanced programs at ULA, who passed away last year.
　　Bernard Kutter was not only an advocate for more commonplace access to space, but also the technologies that could make it a reality. The ULA engineer took a keen interest in NASA’s inflatable heat shield design which could enable the safe return of rocket engines for re-use, as well as land large payloads on Mars required for crewed missions. He was instrumental in advancing the technology and developing the plan to test the system on an Atlas V rocket.
　　今年晚些时候，重返大气层飞行器的所有部件将被集成起来，并通过一系列环境测试，为交付给联合发射联盟(ULA)做准备。
　　使命奉献
　　美国国家航空航天局(NASA)和加州大学洛杉矶分校(ULA)为纪念去年去世的加州大学洛杉矶分校高级项目经理伯纳德·库特(Bernard Kutter)先生，专门执行LOFTID任务。
　　伯纳德·库特(Bernard Kutter)不仅倡导更常见的进入太空的方式，而且还倡导能够使其成为现实的技术。这位加州大学洛杉矶分校的工程师对NASA的充气隔热设计产生了浓厚的兴趣，这种设计可以使火箭发动机安全返回重复使用，并将载人任务所需的大量有效载荷降落在火星上。他在推动技术进步和制定在阿特拉斯V号火箭上测试该系统的计划方面发挥了重要作用。
　　The Bernard Kutter Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is dedicated in honor of Mr. Kutter and his advocacy for space technology and more access to space.
　　伯纳德·库特(Bernard Kutter)充气减速器近地轨道飞行试验(LOFTID)是为了纪念库特先生及其对空间技术和更多进入太空的倡导。
　　＂I – like the rest of the aerospace community – was saddened to hear of Bernard’s unexpected passing last summer,＂ said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. ＂Together, NASA and ULA cannot think of a better way to honor his contributions and legacy than to dedicate the first flight demonstration of this technology to him.＂
　　＂Bernard was the cornerstone of ULA’s Advanced Programs team, shaping the future of space technology and sharing that vision with many inside and outside of ULA,＂ said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. ＂His influence can be seen everywhere from the Vulcan Centaur design to NASA’s lunar architecture. He is greatly missed.＂
　　NASA and its partners continue to prepare the technology for the significant flight test next year.
　　＂This represents almost 18 years of effort,＂ said Joe Del Corso, LOFTID project manager at Langley. ＂LOFTID is the culmination of ground tests and a suborbital flight test leading up to an orbital entry test and the demonstration of Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology. This is the launching point for the next phase of a technology that will be critical to enabling human access to Mars.＂
　　Landing humans on Mars will require larger, heavier payloads than have ever been landed on the Red Planet. That will require a much larger heat shield than currently exists. A scaled-up HIAD could provide the drag area and heat protection needed for a human Mars mission. In addition, HIAD technology could allow landing at higher altitude locations, enable better use of the full volume of rockets, provide heavy payload return from low-Earth orbit, and lower the cost of access to space through launch vehicle asset recovery.
　　＂Bernard advocated for us everywhere. I think the LOFTID project would not have happened without Bernard, and that＂s one of the reasons the dedication is for him,＂ said Dr. Neil Cheatwood, LOFTID principal investigator.
　　The LOFTID project is a part of the Technology Demonstration Missions program within NASA＂s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The project is managed by Langley with contributions from NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
　　美国宇航局空间技术任务理事会副局长吉姆·罗伊特说：＂去年夏天，听到伯纳德意外去世的消息，我和航空航天界的其他人一样感到难过。＂NASA和加州大学洛杉矶分校(ULA)一起，想不出比把这项技术的首次飞行演示献给他更好的方式来纪念他的贡献和遗产。＂
　　加州大学洛杉矶分校总裁兼首席执行官托里·布鲁诺说：＂伯纳德是加州大学洛杉矶分校高级项目团队的基石，他塑造了空间技术的未来，并与加州大学洛杉矶分校内外的许多人分享了这一愿景。＂从火神半人马座的设计到NASA的月球建筑，他的影响随处可见。我们非常想念他。＂
　　NASA及其合作伙伴继续为明年的重大飞行测试准备这项技术。
　　＂这代表了近18年的努力，＂兰利的LOFTID项目经理乔·德尔·科索(Joe Del Corso)说。他说：＂LOFTID是地面测试和亚轨道飞行测试的顶峰，是进入轨道测试和高超声速充气空气动力减速器(HIAD)技术演示的结果。这是一项技术下一阶段的起点，这项技术将对人类进入火星至关重要。＂
　　将人类降落在火星上将需要比在这颗红色星球上着陆过的更大、更重的有效载荷。这将需要一个比目前大得多的隔热罩。放大的HIAD可以提供人类火星任务所需的拖曳面积和热防护。此外，HIAD技术可以允许在更高海拔位置着陆，更好地利用火箭的全部体积，提供从低地球轨道返回的重型有效载荷，并通过运载火箭资产回收降低进入太空的成本。
　　＂伯纳德到处为我们辩护。我认为，如果没有伯纳德，LOFTID项目就不会发生，这也是为他奉献的原因之一，＂LOFTID首席调查员尼尔·切特伍德(Neil Cheatwood)博士说。
　　LOFTID项目是美国国家航空航天局(NASA)空间技术任务理事会内技术示范任务计划的一部分。该项目由兰利管理，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)位于硅谷的艾姆斯研究中心(Ames Research Center)、阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的马歇尔太空飞行中心(Marshall Space Flight Center)和加利福尼亚州爱德华兹的阿姆斯特朗飞行研究中心(Armstrong Flight Research Center)都做出了贡献。