New Russian space chief clarifies comments about International Space Station departure
俄罗斯新航天局长澄清退出国际空间站的言论
Yuri Borisov, the new head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, expanded on comments he made last week indicating the country's intent to disassociate from the International Space Station "after 2024."
俄罗斯航天局俄罗斯国家航天集团新任局长尤里·鲍里索夫（Yuri Borisov）进一步解释了他上周发表的言论，表示，俄罗斯打算“在2024年后”与国际空间站脱离关系。
It appears some of that message may have been lost in translation. In an interview with Russia 24, a state-run Russian news channel, Borisov clarified, "We announced that we intend to do this not in 2024, but after 2024. In Russian, these are two big differences."
似乎其中一些信息可能在翻译中丢失了。鲍里索夫在接受俄罗斯国营新闻频道俄罗斯24台采访时澄清，“我们宣布的退出并不是在2024年就这样做，而是在2024年之后。在俄语中，这是完全不同的两种意思。”
The interview (opens in new tab) was posted to the Roscosmos website in Russian; quotes printed here in English were translated using Google Translate. In the interview, Borisov outlined the underlying strategy Roscosmos is taking toward its International Space Station (ISS) departure plans and clarified the agency's intent to carry on according to international agreements. "The procedure for the withdrawal of the Russian side from the international ISS project is clearly regulated," Borisov explained.
采访（在新选项卡中打开）以俄文张贴在俄罗斯国家航天集团网站上；这里用英语刊登的引语是用谷歌翻译软件翻译的。在采访中，鲍里索夫概述了俄罗斯航天局对退出国际空间站(ISS)项目采取的基本方略，并阐明了俄罗斯航天局根据国际协议继续执行既定计划的意图。鲍里索夫解释说：“有关俄罗斯航天局退出国际空间站项目的程序是有明确规定的。”
Related: How to see and track the International Space Station
相关：如何观测和追踪国际空间站
"We must warn our colleagues a year in advance that we will do this for such and such circumstances. We have not warned [NASA] about this yet; there is no need for this. We just said that after 2024 we will start the exit process," Borisov said in the interview. He added that the withdrawal "can take up to two years." He also said such notice might come at some point during 2024 or 2025.
鲍里索夫称，“我们必须提前一年通知我们的合作伙伴，我们将在这样那样的情况这样做。我们还没有就此通知（NASA）；目前没有必要这样做。我们刚刚说，2024年之后我们将启动退出程序。”他补充说，退出国际空间站项目前后“可能需要长达两年的时间”。他还表示，这样的通知可能会在2024年或2025年的某个时候发布。
Borisov's comments aren't exactly stunning; Russian space officials reportedly told their NASA counterparts last week that Roscosmos wants to stay in the ISS partnership for a while yet — ideally, until Russia gets its own space station up and running in 2028 or thereabouts.
鲍里索夫的评论并不意外。据报道，俄罗斯航天官员上周告诉美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的同行，俄罗斯航天局仍希望在国际空间站项目中停留一段时间--理想情况下，直至俄罗斯在2028年左右建立并运行自己的空间站。
"About two years ago, we began to seriously think about continuing the [crewed] program and developing a domestic orbital station," Borisov said. He cited the "authoritative opinion of many experts" predicting the heightened possibility of cascade failures in ISS systems after 2024 — the stated reasoning behind his "2024" remarks earlier in the week.
鲍里索夫说：“大约两年前，我们开始认真考虑后续的（载人航天）计划，并开发一个自己的轨道空间站。”他引用了“许多专家的权威意见”，预测2024年后国际空间站系统发生级联故障的可能性会增加--这也是他本周早些时候发表“2024年”后退出国际空间站言论的依据。
"The time that our cosmonauts, including American astronauts, spend on searching for possible malfunctions and eliminating them begins to exceed all reasonable limits. This is done at the expense of scientific research," said Borisov.
鲍里索夫解释说：“我们的宇航员，包括美国宇航员，花在寻找可能的故障和排除故障上的时间会开始超过所有合理的限制。这是以牺牲科学研究为代价的。
In fact, NASA is also thinking about its plans for low Earth orbit access following the retirement of the ISS. For example, the American space agency has awarded funding to multiple companies to develop commercial space stations to take the baton from the ISS. Though the orbiting lab is officially approved to operate only through 2024, NASA wants to keep it up and running through 2030. Borisov sees a point of diminishing returns before that later date, however.
事实上，美国宇航局也在考虑在国际空间站退役后开发近地轨道空间站的计划。例如，美国航天局已经向多家公司提供资金来开发商业空间站，从国际空间站手中接过接力棒。尽管国家空间站被正式批准只能运行到2024年，但美国宇航局希望它能一直运行到2030年。然而，鲍里索夫认为，在2030年之前，国际空间站项目运行所产生的的效益会递减。
The Roscosmos chief asserted that, because many of the U.S. modules on the ISS are newer than the bulk of the Russian section, the Russian modules don't have many useful science contributions left to make.
这位俄罗斯航天局负责人断言，由于国际空间站上的许多美国模块比大部分俄罗斯模块都新，延长运行时间到2030年，俄罗斯模块起不了多少科学作用。
"The lion's share of plans for this orbital inclination (51.6 degrees), in particular, experiments on the ISS, have been completed," he said. "From a scientific point of view, we do not see any additional dividends by stretching this process until 2030. And the funds that will be spent on maintaining the Russian part and our participation are huge."
“有关在51.6度轨道倾角下运行的大部分计划，特别是在国际空间站上开展的实验，都已经完成，”他说。“从科学的角度来看，我们看不到将这一进程延长到2030年会带来任何额外的效益。用于维持俄罗斯模块参与部分项目的投入太大。”
Related: NASA looks to private outposts to build on International Space Station's legacy
相关：美国宇航局希望在国际空间站的遗产上建立私人空间站
Russia's premature departure could possibly derail NASA's hopes to continue flying the ISS through the end of the decade. NASA recently tested the ability of a private American Cygnus cargo vehicle to perform an altitude correction for the space station, which requires periodic boosts to maintain its orbit. To date, Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles have been responsible for carrying out ISS orbital corrections.
俄罗斯提前退出国际空间站项目可能会印象美国宇航局继续让国际空间站飞行到2030年的希望。国际空间站需要定期启动推进器来维持所运行的轨道高度，美国宇航局最近测试美国私人天鹅座货运飞行器修正空间站运行高度的能力。迄今为止，俄罗斯联盟号和进步号飞行器一直负责执行国际空间站的轨道修正。
A 2022 report from a team of NASA and Roscosmos engineers outlines a plan to deorbit the ISS in a controlled manner using three Russian Progress freighters, but it's unclear whether altitude boosts from Cygnus could translate to a similar capability. Borisov told Russia 24, "In the opinion of our Western colleagues and our specialists, most likely, this will not be possible without Russian participation."
美国宇航局和俄罗斯航天局工程师团队在2022年的一份报告概述了一项使用三艘俄罗斯“进步号”货运飞船以可控方式脱离国际空间站的计划，但尚不清楚”天鹅座“货运飞船的能否胜任轨道修正的工作。鲍里索夫透露给俄罗斯24，“在西方同事和专家看来，如果没有俄罗斯的参与，这很可能是无法完成的。”
Thankfully, cooperation may be a priority for the new head of the Russian space agency — at least compared to his predecessor Dmitry Rogozin, who became well known for blustery and antagonistic statements, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
谢天谢地，至少与他的前任德米特里·罗戈津（Dmitry Rogozin）相比，开展合作可能是俄罗斯航天局新局长的首要任务，罗戈津以大张旗鼓和敌意的言论而闻名，特别是在俄乌冲突后。
"The ISS project has enriched world science in the field of knowledge about the universe and the Earth, has given all participants in this process new knowledge, and has united us to some extent. I believe that both today and in the future, such projects should be out of politics," Borisov said. "I am very sorry that sometimes in this difficult time our joint projects in space, which are of interest to all mankind, begin to give a political coloring. It is not right."
“国际空间站项目丰富了全世界科学领域关于宇宙和地球的认知，给这一进程的所有参与者提供了新的见解，并在一定程度上团结了全人类。我相信，无论是今天还是未来，这样的项目都应该脱离政治，”鲍里索夫说。“我非常抱歉，在这个困难时期，有时，符合全人类利益的太空联合项目符合开始带有政治色彩。这是不对的。”
Moreover, Borisov seemed to concede that Roscosmos has fallen behind some other countries' space agencies. "If we compare today the state of the space constellations of the main players in this market — Americans, Europeans and Chinese — then they have long overtaken us in this regard."
此外，鲍里索夫似乎承认，俄罗斯航天局已经落后于其他国家的航天机构。“如果我们今天比较这个领域的主要参与者有关卫星网络的发展现状--美国、欧洲和中国，那么就会发现他们在这方面早就超过了我们。”
Borisov added that Roscosmos "owes" the Russian economy and stated his intent to radically restructure "the main processes of the technological cycle, such as development, production [and] testing," at the Russian space agency.
鲍里索夫补充说，俄罗斯航天局要“靠”俄罗斯经济，并表示自己打算从根本上重组俄罗斯航天局的“技术周期的主要过程，如开发、生产和测试”。
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