Europe plans EPIC SpaceX mission to send 4 astronauts to the ISS before its retirement

欧洲计划在空间站退役前执行一项史诗般的SpaceX任务，将4名宇航员送往国际空间站。

The European Space Agency is planning to buy a dedicated SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to send its astronauts to the International Space Station to boost their time and experience in space.

欧洲航天局正计划购买一个专门的SpaceX Crew Dragon任务，将其宇航员送往国际空间站，以增加他们在太空的时间和经验。

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher announced the plan to charter a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 19, following a decision at an ESA Council meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland. The ESA Provided Institutional Crew (EPIC) project is planned to launch in early 2028 with the aim of providing more opportunities for the agency's astronauts to get to space before the International Space Station is retired, SpaceNews reported.

欧洲航天局（ESA）局长约瑟夫·阿施巴赫于3月19日宣布，计划包租一艘SpaceX载人龙飞船。这一决定是在瑞士因特拉肯举行的ESA理事会会议后做出的。据《太空新闻》报道，ESA提供的机构宇航员（EPIC）项目计划于2028年初发射，旨在为该机构的宇航员在国际空间站退役之前提供更多进入太空的机会。

"We have five career astronauts that I intend to fly in the next few years, and EPIC is one way of making sure that these career astronauts can go to the space station, do research and certainly also enlarge our experience and our work on the International Space Station," Aschbacher said in the March 19 ESA press briefing.

阿施巴赫在3月19日的欧航局新闻发布会上表示：“我们有五名职业宇航员，我计划在未来几年内送他们进入太空。EPIC项目正是确保这些职业宇航员能够前往空间站开展研究，同时也能拓展我们在国际空间站上的经验与工作的途径之一。”

The move would create new opportunities for Europe's astronauts before the International Space Station (ISS) is retired. As European Spaceflight reported, ESA unveiled its latest group of five career astronauts in November 2022, but has only secured long-duration flights to the ISS for two of the five, including Sophie Adenot, who is currently aboard the space station as part of SpaceX's Crew-12 mission.

这一举措将为欧洲宇航员在国际空间站退役前创造新的机会。据《欧洲航天》报道，欧航局于2022年11月公布了最新一批五名职业宇航员，但其中仅有两人获得了前往国际空间站的长期飞行任务，包括目前正在空间站执行SpaceX Crew-12任务的索菲·阿德诺特。

The mission will likely include international astronauts, not just those from ESA, however.

不过，这项任务很可能将包括来自其他国家的国际宇航员，而不仅仅是欧空局的宇航员。

"ESA will buy launch capability for four professional astronauts," Aschbacher said. "We plan to implement this with international partners. That means ESA astronauts plus international partners." He added that ESA will work closely with NASA, but ESA will lead and fully operate the mission.

阿施巴赫表示：“欧空局将为四名职业宇航员购买发射能力。我们计划与国际合作伙伴共同实施这一项目，即由欧空局宇航员加上国际伙伴组成。”他补充说，欧空局将与NASA密切合作，但此次任务将由欧空局主导并全面负责运营。

Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA's Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, stated that EPIC would not be similar to recent, short-term private missions to the ISS. The selected EPIC crew will be career astronauts who will spend around one month in orbit. They will conduct research and utilization activities aboard the ISS, but they will also participate in maintenance and repair and support logistics operations. Private astronauts typically focus on research activities and the missions have lasted around two weeks on average.

欧空局载人与机器人探索主任丹尼尔·诺伊恩施万德指出，EPIC项目将不同于近期那些前往国际空间站的短期商业任务。被选中的EPIC机组人员将是职业宇航员，他们将在轨停留约一个月。他们将在国际空间站上开展研究与应用活动，同时还会参与维护、修理以及后勤保障工作。而商业宇航员通常只专注于研究活动，任务平均持续时间约为两周。

The ISS is currently scheduled to be deorbited in 2030, by which time it will have been permanently occupied for 30 years. However, a number of U.S. senators are calling for the lifetime of the ISS to be extended two years to September 2032, aiming to avoid a gap in continuous U.S. human presence in low Earth orbit and thus "avoiding ceding leadership to China before commercial stations are ready."

目前，国际空间站计划于2030年退役离轨，届时它将已持续载人运行30年。然而，部分美国参议员呼吁将空间站的服役期延长两年，至2032年9月，目的是避免美国在低地球轨道上出现连续载人驻留的空档期，从而“在商业空间站准备就绪之前，避免将领导地位拱手让给中国”。