前两天，美国太空探索公司(Space X)成功发射“猎鹰重型”(Falcon Heavy)运载火箭的消息一日之间刷爆了“朋友圈”。北京时间7日凌晨4点45分，在两次临时推迟后，“猎鹰重型”火箭成功发射，两枚助推器也成功回收。对于“猎鹰重型”的发射，国内外媒体均不吝赞美之词，称其为“太空奇迹”“壮举”，“改写了历史”。

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这枚了不起的火箭来自美国商人埃隆·马斯克（Elon [i'lɔn] Musk）的私人公司SpaceX。而且!发射火箭的同时，还把一辆特斯拉跑车送上了太空，这辆特斯拉将在火星轨道上，永生围绕着太阳，一直循环播放《Space Oddity》这首歌～

SpaceX just launched its most powerful rocket ever—and it looked amazing

• Falcon Heavy became the most powerful commercial rocket in the world on Tuesday.

• The SpaceX rocket completed its maiden flight[首飞] from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• It put one of CEO Elon Musk's Tesla Roadsters into orbit around the Sun.

  
  

Elon Musk took one giant leap to the front of the space industry on Tuesday.

Falcon Heavy became the most powerful commercial rocket in the world after SpaceX successfully completed its first launch of the behemoth[1] from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

[1]behemoth: [bɪ'hiːmɒθ; 'biːhɪ,məʊθ] something that is extremely large and often extremely powerful

庞然大物；强大的事物

a grocery chain behemoth

大型连锁食品杂货店

Musk told reporters after the launch that he was having difficulty comprehending the magnitude of the flight, saying it was surreal[2] for him to see.

[2] surreal: a situation or experience that is surreal is very strange and difficult to understand, like something from a dream 〔情况或经历〕超现实的；离奇的，荒诞的

The house was a surreal mixture of opulence and decay.

这座房子破落中透着奢华，犹如幻梦一般。

"I think this going to encourage other companies and countries," Musk said. "We want a new space race."

The launch was the most ambitious yet for Musk's space company, putting SpaceX at the top of a short list of available heavy lift rockets. Falcon Heavy is both more powerful and capable of lifting more weight than the biggest rockets offered by either United Launch Alliance (a Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture) or Arianespace – at a fraction of[3] the cost.

[3]fraction: A fraction of something is a tiny amount or proportion of it. 少量

Here's how to eat like the stars, at a fraction of the cost. 

这就是如何花少量钱却能像明星一样吃喝的方法。

"This is, in many ways, the most significant launch since the first shuttle launch nearly four decades ago," prominent space investor Dylan Taylor told CNBC.

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Standing more than 21 stories tall, Falcon Heavy flew unmanned for its demonstration launch. SpaceX may no longer send astronauts atop Falcon Heavy, as the company previously planned. Musk told reporters on a conference call the day before the launch that development of the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) is "coming along quickly."

If BFR is successful, Musk said that rocket would carry astronauts instead of Falcon Heavy. But that may change again, as Musk noted that delays on BFR would mean the return of putting SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsule back on top of Falcon Heavy.

Success was never a certainty for Falcon Heavy's maiden flight, as Musk noted previously that a "lot can go wrong" during a first attempt. The first few minutes of the launch were the most critical, as Musk said that once the rocket was beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the upper stage deploys then SpaceX would be "in very well-known territory."

Delays have plagued[4] the development of the Falcon Heavy, a rocket that some in the space industry thought may never see launch day. Musk unveiled[5] the rocket in 2011, promising the inaugural launch would happen as early as 2013.

[4]plague: to cause pain, suffering, or trouble to someone, especially for a long period of time 不断困扰，折磨，使苦恼

Financial problems continued to plague the company.

资金问题持续困扰着该公司。

be plagued by/with sth

He was plagued by eye troubles.

他饱受眼疾困扰。

[5]unveil

1) to show or tell people about a new product or plan for the first time 〔首次〕透露〔新计划〕，展示〔新产品〕

The club has unveiled plans to build a new stadium.

俱乐部首次披露了要建造一座新体育馆的计划。

2) to remove the cover from something, especially as part of a formal ceremony 

为…揭幕；揭去…上的覆盖物

The statue was unveiled by the Queen.

这尊雕塑由女王揭幕。

SpaceX built Falcon Heavy out of three of the company's Falcon 9 rockets — a system that has now completed dozens of successful launches over the last few years. The three cores stand side by side to create a 27-engine colossus[巨人；巨物]. Musk has said the central core needed "to be buffed up[擦亮] a lot" but the Falcon 9 cores on each side "use most of the same airframe[机身]."

Both side boosters returned to land simultaneously on concrete pads at Kennedy. Musk says he personally inspected each of them after landing, adding that SpaceX could even reuse them if it wanted.

At liftoff[起飞时刻] Falcon Heavy creates a combined 5 million pounds of thrust — or the equivalent of about 18 Boeing 747 airplanes at takeoff. Musk has called it the "most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two," and its payload is estimated tobe nearly three times that of the former space shuttles.

When speculating on what would come after a successful test flight, Musk said that SpaceX "would be ready to do another Falcon Heavy flight pretty soon," and added that it could be as quickly as 3 to 6 months away. The second Falcon Heavy launch would carry a commercial payload, Musk said.

Musk's space company operates differently than any other by recovering the largest part of its Falcon 9 rockets — the first stage.