Two NASA astronauts are stuck on the ISS - how stranded are they?
两名美国宇航局的宇航员被困在国际空间站上——他们被困了多久?
Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams blasted off on 5 June in Starliner's first mission to orbit carrying the astronauts. After docking on the ISS, the NASA astronauts were supposed to stay in orbit for eight days.
指挥官巴里·“巴奇”·威尔莫尔和飞行员苏尼塔·“苏尼”·威廉姆斯于6月5日乘坐“星际客机”执行首次载人航天任务升空。在对接国际空间站后，NASA 宇航员本应绕地球飞行8天。
However, Boeing's Starliner has been plagued by problems and its return to Earth has been repeatedly delayed. During their extended stay on the ISS, the astronauts have been forced to take shelter in the spacecraft when a Russian satellite exploded nearby.
然而，波音公司的“星际客机”问题不断，其返回地球的时间一再推迟。在国际空间站停留期间，由于附近一颗俄罗斯卫星爆炸，宇航员被迫在航天器内避难。
However, if they needed to evacuate, Starliner may have struggled to get away from the space station. The spacecraft's propulsion system is faulty, which is how it backs the capsule away from the ISS and positions itself to dive through Earth's atmosphere.
然而，如果他们需要撤离，“星际客机”可能很难从空间站脱身。该航天器的推进系统存在故障，推进系统负责将太空舱从国际空间站分离，并定位到能够穿越地球大气层的轨道上。
Many of Starliner's thrusters have overheated when fired and leaks of helium, used to pressurise the thrusters, appear to be connected to how frequently they are used, according to NASA's commercial crew manager Steve Stich.
据 NASA 商业机组经理史蒂夫·斯蒂奇介绍，当“星际客机”的许多推进器启动时，会出现过热现象，而且用于给推进器加压的氦气泄漏似乎与它们的使用频率有关。
How stuck are they? Boeing insists the astronauts are "not stuck" and says "there's no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth," according to Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program.
他们究竟被困到了什么程度？据波音公司商业乘员项目经理马克·纳皮介绍，波音公司坚称宇航员们“并未被困”，并表示“当我们决定让苏尼和巴奇返回地球时，风险并未增加”。
Starliner is able to spend 45 days docked on the ISS, or up to 72 days at a push, relying on backup systems. If the astronauts still couldn't use it to come back to Earth, they could hitch a lift with other crews up there.
“星际客机”依靠备用系统，可以在国际空间站对接45天，或在必要时对接长达72天。如果宇航员仍然无法使用“星际客机”返回地球，他们可以搭乘其他机组人员的飞船返回。
Russia's Soyuz spacecraft is due to take three people back to Earth in September and SpaceX's Crew Dragon Capsule should return in August. Butch and Suni aren't in "any danger", according to Mr Nappi and also aren't even very stuck by space station standards.
俄罗斯的“联盟”号飞船将于9月搭载三人返回地球，而 SpaceX 的“龙”飞船预计将在8月返回。据纳皮先生介绍，巴奇和苏尼“没有任何危险”，而且按照空间站的标准来看，他们甚至并不算是被困。
Last year, NASA's Frank Rubio landed back on Earth after the longest continuous spaceflight by an American, spending a whopping 371 days in orbit. His return was delayed for six months because of a coolant leak on his spacecraft.
去年，NASA 的弗兰克·鲁比奥在完成美国人最长连续太空飞行后返回地球，他在太空中度过了惊人的371天。由于航天器出现冷却液泄漏，他的返回被推迟了六个月。
Between 1994 and 1995, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent a record-breaking 437 days on the Russian-owned Mir space station, although he always intended to be up there for a long time. Starliner's problems come after years of delays and failed launches.
1994年至1995年间，俄罗斯宇航员瓦列里·波利亚科夫在俄罗斯拥有的“和平”号空间站上度过了创纪录的437天，尽管他本来就打算在那里待很长时间。星际客机的这些问题是在多年的延误和发射失败之后出现的。
In 2014, NASA asked both SpaceX and Boeing to develop commercial crew capsules, but while SpaceX successfully started shuttling astronauts in 2020, this trip was Boeing's first crewed launch. Boeing's losses on the Starliner programme are believed to be around 1.5 billion dollars (1.2 billion pounds).
2014年，NASA 要求 SpaceX 和波音公司都开发商业乘员舱，但 SpaceX 已经在2020年成功开始运送宇航员，而这次飞行是波音公司的首次载人发射。据估，波音公司在星际客机项目上的损失约为15亿美元（12亿英镑）。
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