Unit 8B - 2001 Space Shuttle
2001 Space Shuttle
Kenneth Jon Rose
When NASA built the first space shuttle and with it the first chance to carry both men and equipment inexpensively into space, it opened the doors to the eventual building and operating of commercial shuttles by private corporations that, possibly within the next generation, may be able to fly us to a space as routinely as we are flown to Europe.
What follows is a highly speculative look at what it may be like to shuttle through space. However, with space technology changing at the speed of light, today's blueprint will likely be made history by tomorrow's research.
You'll need tickets first. Unlike the NASA shuttle, which launches like a rocket, the future passenger shuttles will take off the way jets do now, that is, horizontally on a runway. Ticket and reservation counters, as well as the shuttles themselves, most likely will be located at several airports around the world.
The tickets won't be cheap, though. One round-trip fare may cost four times the amount of a flight from New York to Tokyo, or about $4,500. This might seem a lot to pay for a flight that is going to take 30 minutes to get up and the same coming down.
Once you've sat in the cushioned seats and have strapped yourself in (the belt across your shoulders and lap will be needed to keep you in your seat when the shuttle is in weightless space),the large ship — which will be totally controlled by an onboard computer — will fire its engines and rumble down the runway.
Before you notice the steadily increasing pressure of the acceleration pushing you gently back, the craft will have already lifted into the air.
Looking out your window, you'll see the earth rapidly falling away, and the light blue sky progressively turning blue-black. You'11 now be about 30 miles up, traveling at about 3,000mph. Within minutes, the sky will appear jet black, and only the blurred curve of the earth will be visible. Then, at perhaps 130 miles above the surface of the earth and traveling at greater than 17,000 mph, engines will shut down and — if the shuttle is in orbit with the planet and not accelerating — you’ll become weightless.
There are some very strange effects in weightless space. At first you may feel as if you are endlessly falling; soon it will pass. You may notice, too, that the faces of your fellow passengers look swollen and puffy and that they can't keep their hair in place. Without gravity to pull down your hair and skin, your features will become distorted. It won't do any harm; it'll just look funny.
Lack of gravity will also affect what you will eat. For instance, because zero gravity causes water to form round masses which are uncontrollable in confined spaces, you will not find running water anywhere on board. And you probably will also not find food that is apt to crumble for the same reason that tiny crumbs are not kept down by gravity. What you will find are liquids that can be squeezed from a tube into the mouth as well as foods that are sticky, or at least ones that stick together.
Looking out the window, you will see the best sights of the trip. Because there is no up or down in space, earth may loom either above or below you, but in any case you'll see the blue of the oceans covered with swirls and patches or white clouds. You might even see the brown-green fabric of a continent or two. And, if the sun goes behind the earth, there will be a billion clear, bright, non-flickering (because there is no distorting atmosphere in space) stars.
You will realize that the ship is entering the earth's outer atmosphere when, once again, you feel an invisible force pushing you back into your seat. You will still be seated as if the craft were horizontal and, in fact, it will descend in just that way. As the shuttle passes through much of the outer atmosphere, the bottom of the craft, covered with special tiles will glow red from the air friction. Then the rapid descent begins. The shuttle slows to five times the speed of sound (3,750mph).
Meanwhile, the sky turns lighter and layers of clouds pass you like cars on a highway. Minutes later, still sitting upright, you will see the gray runway in the distance. Then the shuttle slows to 300 mph and drops its landing gear. Finally, with its nose up slightly like the Concorde SST and at a speed of about 225 mph, the shuttle will land on the asphalt runway and slowly come to a halt. The trip into space will be over.
参考译文——2001年的航天飞机
2001年的航天飞机
肯尼思·乔恩·罗斯
自从美国国家航空和航天局制造了第一架航天飞机，并第一次带来了将人和器材以不大的代价送入太空的机会后，便为最终由私人公司制造并操作商业性航天飞机打开了大门。可能在下一代人的时间里，私人公司也许就能定期将我们送往航天站，就像现在定期送我们飞往欧洲那样。
下面主要是根据推测展望乘坐航天飞机遨游太空时可能出现的情景。然而，航天技术正以光速飞快发展，明天的研究很可能将今天的蓝图变为历史。
首先你需要航天票。与国家航空和航天局的航天飞机不同，未来的航天客机不是像火箭一样发射升空，而是像今天的喷气式飞机那样在跑道上水平起飞。售票和订票处，还有航天飞机，很可能设在世界上的某几个机场内。
但航天票不会便宜。一张来回票可能价值一张从纽约到东京机票的四倍，约为4,500美元。对一次来回各30分钟的航行来说，这个数目会显得相当可观。
等到你在装有软垫的座位上坐好，并系好安全带（航天飞机进人失去重力作用的外层空间后，必须有安全带将你的肩膀和腿部固定在座位上）后，这艘大飞船——完全由机载电子计算机所控制——就会点火发动引擎，在跑道上隆隆向前驶去。
没等你留意到加速带来的持续增强的压力把你轻轻地往后推，飞机就已经飞上了天空。
望着窗外，你会看到地球正迅速退后，浅蓝色的天空渐渐变成蓝黑色。现在你是在30英里的高度，以每小时3,000英里的速度飞行。在几分钟内，天空就会变得一片乌黑发亮，只有地球模糊轮廓的曲线隐约可见。随后，在离地球表面约130英里的高度，当飞行速度超过每小时17,000英里时，引擎就会关闭——如果飞机进入围绕地球飞行的轨道并且不再加速的话——你就处于失重状态了。
在失去重力的外层空间，有一些奇特的效应。开始时你可能觉得自己是在不停地下坠；这种感觉过一会儿就没有了。你还会发现旅伴们的脸都显得有点浮肿，头发飘浮散乱。失去了把头发和皮肤往下拉的重力作用，你的面貌就会变形。这不会带来任何害处，只不过看上去有点怪。
没有重力也会影响你吃的食物。例如，由于失重状态使得水变成一颗颗圆团，在狭窄空间里无法控制，所以你在飞机上找不到自来水。你也不太可能找到易碎食物，这同样是因为，没有重力，小碎屑就不会往下掉。你能得到的是可以从管子里挤到嘴里的液体，还有成粘糊状的或至少是能粘在一起的食物。
望着窗外，你会看到此行最美丽的景致。外层空间中没有上下之分，因此地球可能在你上方，也可能在你下方，但不管怎样，你都会看到白云缭绕的蓝色海洋。你甚至还可能看到棕绿交织的一两块大陆。要是太阳转到地球另一边，就会出现千千万万颗清澈明亮，但并不闪烁的星星（因为外层空间中没有会引起失真的大气层）。
当你再次感觉到有一股看不见的力量把你推回到座位上时，你就会意识到飞机正在进入地球的外层大气层。你仍旧坐在座位上，好像飞机是在水平飞行，事实上，飞机恰恰是要水平下降。当飞机穿过大部分外层大气层的时候，由特种绝热瓦片覆盖的飞机底部会由于空气摩擦而发出红光。接着就开始了迅速的降落。飞机把速度降到声速的五倍(每小时3，750英里）。
与此同时，天色变淡，云层就像公路上行驶的汽车那样，从你身旁飘过。几分钟之后，仍然垂直坐着的你会看见远处灰色的跑道。随后飞机减速至每小时300英里，并放下起落架。最后，飞机机头略略上抬，就像协和式超音速运输机那样，以每小时大约225英里的速度降落在沥青跑道上，缓缓停下。太空之行就此结束。
Key Words:
commercial [kə'mə:ʃəl]
adj. 商业的
n. 商业广告
blueprint ['blu:'print]
n. 蓝图，设计图，(周详的)计划
v. 制成
fare [fɛə]
n. 路费，食物
vi. 过活，进展，进食
flight [flait]
n. 飞行，航班
n. 奇思妙想，一段楼
speculative ['spekju.lətiv]
adj. 推测的，推理的，思索的，投机的
reservation [.rezə'veiʃən]
n. 预定，保留意见
minutes ['minits]
n. 会议记录，(复数)分钟
visible ['vizəbl]
adj. 可见的，看得见的
n. 可见物
craft [krɑ:ft]
n. 工艺，手艺，狡诈，航空器，行会成员
stick [stik]
n. 枝，杆，手杖
vt. 插于，刺入，竖起<
accelerating [æk'sæləreitiŋ]
adj. 加速的，促进的，催化的 动词accelerat
sticky ['stiki]
adj. 粘的，闷热的，困难的，令人不满意的
distorted [dis'tɔ:tid]
adj. 歪曲的；受到曲解的 v. 扭曲（distort
acceleration [æk.selə'reiʃən]
n. 加速，促进，加速度
minutes ['minits]
n. 会议记录，(复数)分钟
crumble ['krʌmbl]
v. 崩溃，弄碎，减亡
uncontrollable [,ʌnkən'trəuləbl]
adj. 无法控制的；无法管束的；难以驾驭的
fabric ['fæbrik]
n. 织物，结构，构造
vt. 构筑
slightly ['slaitli]
adv. 些微地，苗条地
friction ['frikʃən]
n. 摩擦，摩擦力，分歧
descend [di'send]
v. 降，传，降临
upright ['ʌp'rait]
adj. 正直的，诚实的，合乎正道的
loom [lu:m]
n. 织布机
n. 若隐若现
gear [giə]
n. 齿轮，传动装置，设备，工具
v. 使适应
horizontal [.hɔri'zɔntl]
adj. 水平的，横的
n. 水平线，水平面
craft [krɑ:ft]
n. 工艺，手艺，狡诈，航空器，行会成员
invisible [in'vizəbl]
adj. 看不见的，无形的
参考资料：
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