Even as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is set to receive billions of dollars in additional funding for technology in the latest White House budget, the agency has yet to chart a detailed course for future manned space flight once the space shuttle is retired in 2011.
就在美國宇航局認為白宮在最新預算中會再撥給它數十億美元科研經費之際，它卻尚未能拿出一份詳細的計劃，以說明一旦航天飛機在2011年退役，美國未來將如何開展載人航天飛行。
That could erode congressional and public support for NASA, according to some industry officials and lawmakers.
據一些業界高管和國會議員說，這有可能削弱國會和美國公眾對NASA的支持。
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden predicted that the proposed $19 billion fiscal-2011 budget, an increase of 2% from the previous year, would be "good for NASA." He added that a plan to rely on private companies to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station would be "great for the American work force."
NASA的負責人查爾斯·博爾登預測說，在該機構2011年財政年度預算中，政府將向NASA撥款190億美元，比上一財年增加2%，這對NASA來說是個好消息。他還說，擬依賴民間企業向國際空間站運送宇航員的計劃，對美國就業市場“很有利”。
But the budget, which created an element of uncertainty about NASA's priorities, is likely to further stoke fierce congressional opposition.
但NASA的預算安排預計會在國會進一步激起反對聲音。這一預算給NASA未來的優先任務蒙上了一絲不確定性。
Drastic shifts envisioned in NASA's fiscal-2011 budget include killing Constellation, the current program intended to send astronauts back to the moon, and replacing it with initiatives to stimulate various commercial space projects and create a new generation of heavy-lift rockets able to penetrate deeper into space. The spending package also seeks greater international cooperation, even on the highest-priority manned projects, along with ambitious new efforts to develop in-orbit construction and refueling capabilities.
根據NASA 2011財年預算的構想，該機構工作重點的一個巨大轉變將是取消派宇航員重返月球的“星際計劃”，取代它的將是以促進各種各樣商業太空項目以及開發新一代大推力火箭為目的的一系列計劃。這些火箭將能把航天器送入更深的太空。NASA新的支出計劃還將尋求擴大國際合作，具體領域甚至包括被視為NASA最優先工作的載人航天項目，以及旨在開發在軌建造和燃料補充能力的新項目。
Despite the request for an increase in funding, the budget package doesn't lay out detailed timetables or destinations for future manned exploration. Instead, it seeks to save money in the short term by turning over to private enterprise the job of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.
盡管NASA在預算計劃中要求政府增加撥款，但它卻并未列出未來載人航天探索行動的具體時間表或明確目的地。相反，為了在短期內實現節省資金的目的，NASA打算將向國際空間站運送宇航員的任務交給私人企業去完成。
When it comes to substantially longer, more complex missions envisioned for coming decades, the spending plan simply puts in place technology-development efforts NASA would nurture until those decisions are made.
至于那些未來幾十年才能完成的歷時更長、更復雜的任務，NASA在預算計劃中只是說，只有當這些任務明確下來后，才能確定NASA需要為此開發哪些技術。
Lori Garver, the agency's No. 2 official, told reporters Monday that the aim is to "unleash the economic potential of space" by letting private enterprise bid on contracts intended to "take us further and faster and more affordably" to landings on the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars. A joint NASA-White House statement released along with the budget blueprint suggests that unmanned missions will grow in prominence for at least the next decade, though it stopped short of detailing how.
NASA的第二號人物羅莉·賈維爾周一對記者們說，新預算計劃的目的是，通過讓私人企業競標那些可讓美國更遠、更快、更經濟地登陸月球、小行星甚至火星的合同，來釋放太空的經濟潛力。NASA和白宮隨該機構預算計劃一同發布的聲明稱，至少在未來十年中，無人太空項目將獲得重視，不過聲明沒有詳細予以論述。
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（來源：愛詞霸 編輯：Julie）
