[双语新闻]美国宇航局发射3颗微型卫星
NASA Launches Microsatellites Into Space
摘要：
在比原计划推迟了一周之后，美国宇航局22日终于利用飞机加火箭的方式将3颗微型卫星送上了太空，开始了对地球磁场的研究工作。
NASA fired three microsatellites into space Wednesday to study the Earth's magnetic fields, a week after an earlier launch was scrubbed.
当日早晨6点刚过，美国洛克希德公司生产的L-1011型喷气飞机载着每颗仅重55磅（约25公斤）的ST5微型卫星，从位于加利福尼亚州的范登堡空军基地起飞。飞机到达3.9万英尺（约1.2万米）高空后，一枚小型"飞马"运载火箭从飞机腹部脱离，并于10分钟后将这3颗微型卫星送入轨道。
这次发射的目的在于证明，用一组小型、低成本的卫星，从不同位置同时测量地球磁场的好处。ST5微型卫星计划是美国宇航局"新千年计划"的一部分，"新千年"计划是为发现、发展和试验创新型技术而设立的。
这次发射原本定在上周，美国宇航局还没能确定导致发射被推迟的问题究竟为何，但推测问题可能出在火箭飞行控制系统的一个锁定销上。上周发射之前，因控制系统上结冰锁定销没能缩回。
编译：何晓
The 55-pound ST5 satellites, which will test new technologies for future science missions, were carried aloft from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Lockheed L-1011 jet. Shortly after 6 a.m., when the plane reached 39,000 feet, a compact Pegasus rocket dropped from the aircraft's belly fired its engine and ferried the satellites on a 10-minute climb into space. The launch was broadcast live on NASA's TV station.
The mission's goal is to demonstrate the benefits of a group of small, low-cost satellites simultaneously measuring the magnetic fields from different locations. The ST5 project is part of NASA's New Millennium Program, which was created to identify, build and test innovative technologies.
The agency never determined the exact nature of the problem that delayed last week's launch but surmised it was caused by a locking pin in the rocket's flight control, which failed to retract before launch because ice had formed on it. |
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