NASA实验太阳帆系统准备部署风帆 美国国家航空航天局（NASA）先进复合材料太阳帆系统的调试工作已接近尾声，任务操作人员正在为下一个里程碑--使用新型复合材料吊杆吊装太阳帆--制定计划。
NASA Experimental Solar Sail System Prepares to Deploy Sail The commissioning of NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is nearing completion, and mission operators are planning for the next milestone - hoisting the solar sail using new composite booms.
美国国家航空航天局（NASA）先进复合太阳帆系统航天器在轨道上运行时的艺术家概念图，此时太阳正掠过地球的地平线。图片来源：NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart
Artist's concept of NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft operating in orbit as the sun grazes Earth's horizon. Image credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart
风帆将从航天器的 12 单元（12U）立方体卫星本体上展开，使用的是由新材料制成的复合吊杆，比以前的设计更坚硬、更轻。一旦成功展开吊杆和风帆，研究小组希望通过提升和降低卫星轨道来证明风帆的推进能力和机动性。太阳帆利用太阳光的压力进行推进，光子从反光帆上反弹，推动航天器前进。就像帆船转向捕捉风一样，航天器可以通过调整帆的角度来调整轨道。
The sail will deploy from the spacecraft's 12-unit (12U) CubeSat bus using composite booms made from new materials that are stiffer and lighter than previous designs. Once the booms and sail are successfully deployed, the research team hopes to demonstrate the sail's propulsive power and maneuverability by raising and lowering the satellite's orbit. Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, with photons bouncing off the reflective sail to push the spacecraft forward. Like a sailboat tacking to catch the wind, the spacecraft can adjust its orbit by changing the angle of the sail.
这幅艺术家的概念图展示了利用太阳能量在太空中航行的先进复合太阳帆系统航天器。图片来源：NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart
This artist's concept shows the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft sailing on solar power in space. Image credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart
今年 4 月，火箭实验室的"电子"火箭从新西兰发射升空，这次飞行任务完成了一系列测试和准备工作，包括测试双向通信和部署太阳能电池板（一种电池充电装置，不要与尚未部署的太阳帆混淆）。
In April this year, Rocket Lab's Electron rocket launched from New Zealand, and this flight mission completed a series of tests and preparations, including testing two-way communication and deploying solar panels (a battery charging device, not to be confused with the yet-to-be-deployed solar sail).
项目小组预计将在未来几周内部署太阳帆。考虑到太阳帆在轨道上的位置（距地球约 600 英里（1000 公里））和大型帆板的反射率（约 860 平方英尺（80 平方米）），任务管理人员说，一旦帆板完全展开，太阳帆系统在夜空中应该很容易看到。
The project team expects to deploy the solar sail in the coming weeks. Given the solar sail's position in orbit (about 600 miles (1000 kilometers) from Earth) and the reflectivity of the large sail (about 860 square feet (80 square meters)), mission managers say the solar sail system should be easily visible in the night sky once the sail is fully deployed.
美国国家航空航天局艾姆斯分局负责管理先进复合太阳帆系统项目，并设计和建造了机载照相诊断系统。美国国家航空航天局兰利分局设计并制造了可展开的复合材料吊杆和太阳帆系统。NASA的小型航天器技术项目办公室设在NASA艾姆斯，由该机构的空间技术任务局（STMD）领导，负责资助和管理这项任务。NASA STMD 的 Game Changing Development 计划开发了可展开复合材料吊杆技术。加利福尼亚州长滩的 Rocket Lab USA 公司提供了发射服务。马里兰州学院公园的 AST&Defense LLC 公司设计并制造了航天器总线。
NASA's Ames Research Center manages the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System project and designed and built the onboard photographic diagnostic system. NASA's Langley Research Center designed and manufactured the deployable composite booms and solar sail system. NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology program office, located at NASA Ames and led by the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), is funding and managing this mission. NASA STMD's Game Changing Development program developed the deployable composite boom technology. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. of Long Beach, California, provided launch services. AST&Defense LLC of College Park, Maryland, designed and manufactured the spacecraft bus.