Episode Details

Boeing launched astronauts into space with its delayed Starliner spacecraft for the first time Wednesday. 

波音公司于周三首次使用其延迟的星际线飞船将宇航员送入太空。

The launch marked the company’s entry into competition with SpaceX to provide service for the American space agency NASA. 

此次发射标志着该公司进入与SpaceX竞争，为美国航天局NASA提供服务。

NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off in the Starliner spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was powered by an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. 

NASA测试飞行员Butch Wilmore和Suni Williams乘坐星际线飞船从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角起飞前往国际空间站（ISS）。该飞船由波音和洛克希德·马丁公司的联合发射联盟的Atlas V火箭提供动力。

Boeing designed Starliner to fly without human assistance. But the astronauts can take control of the spacecraft if necessary. The test flight calls for Wilmore and Williams to take control of the vehicle on the way to the space station. The trip to the ISS is expected to last 25 hours, with arrival on Thursday. The two astronauts will spend just one week at the orbiting laboratory before heading back to Earth to land in the western United States on June 14. 

波音设计的星际线飞船可以在没有人为干预的情况下飞行。但如果有必要，宇航员可以控制飞船。测试飞行要求Wilmore和Williams在前往空间站的途中控制飞行器。预计到达ISS的时间为25小时，预计将在周四到达。两名宇航员将在轨道实验室停留一周，然后于6月14日返回地球，降落在美国西部。

Wilmore and Williams are former Navy pilots and long-time astronauts. The two have spent a combined 500 days in space over two ISS missions each. Both said repeatedly before the launch that they had full confidence in Boeing for this flight after so many delays. 

Wilmore和Williams都是前海军飞行员和长期的宇航员。两人分别在两次ISS任务中共度过了500天的太空时光。两人在发射前反复表示，在经历了这么多次的延误后，他们对这次飞行充满信心。

The launch came two years after Starliner completed its first test flight to the ISS without astronauts on board. Last-minute problems had delayed the Starliner's first two launch attempts with humans. 

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