A History of the Space Suits（太空服史话）

  No oxygen, no pressure, and temperature's ranging from 250 above, to 250 below zero. Instant death for an unprotected human. But time and again astronauts have entered the deadly vacuum of space and returned home to tell about it. The equipment is a 10 million dollar masterpiece called a space suit. Eighty companies and hundreds of tests are involved in the creation of the 300 pound suit.
    没有氧气，没有气压，温度介于250度与零下250度之间。没有保护装束的人即时就会丧命。但宇航员们一次又一次地进入危机四伏的太空真空环境中，并在返回地球后讲述这种经历。保护他们的装束就是太空服，每件价值一千万美元，重300磅，由80家公司经几百次测试后制成。

  How'd they come up with the idea of a space suit? It all began with the adventurous aviator, Wiley Post, who decided he wanted to fly higher than anyone had flown before. He invented the first successful high-altitude pressure suit in the 1930's, so he wouldn't pass out from lack of oxygen when he was thousands of feet up in the air.
  In World War II the military followed suit. And then NASA picked up the pieces and flew with them. But that changed with Gemini, the first mission that would send an American astronaut out into the vast vacuum of deep space. On June 3, 1965, Ed White left the capsule for 30 minutes. How'd the suit keep him alive?
Dominic:They used a chest-mounted pack that was supplied by an umbilical line to the space craft for the oxygen, so it wasn't totally a free-floating condition.
  Apollo posed new challenges. The suits would have to be self-supporting, so the astronauts could freely 9)roam the surface of the moon.
How'd they do that?
Dominic: When we got to the Apollo program, we had actual portable life support systems that made the astronaut more an autonomous spacecraft because now the individual could put the life support system on, leave the rest of the vehicle, then walk on the lunar surface.
  They added customized fingertip grips to the all-important thermal glove. That enabled the astronauts to collect more than 800 pounds of lunar rocks and soil. They added more flexible joints, too.
Dominic: We Mincorporated some features in the waist and hip area of the suit that would ")accommodate some walking activity. And we also, later on, had to be able to sit in 'z)roving vehicle, so that feature also served well.
  Today, astronauts are 'Monning the most advanced suits yet, allowing them to build space stations and repair satellites.

    制造太空服的念头是怎样产生的？灵感始于爱冒险的飞行员威利·波斯特。他想打破以往的飞行高度纪录，于是在1930年成功地发明了第一件高空压力服，这使他在几千尺的
高空上不会因缺氧而昏迷。
    在二战中军方设计出一种装束，美国太空总署予以仿用并在飞行中使用它。但到执行“双子座’，计划时情况有所改变。美国要派出第一个宇航员深入广阔无边、深不可测的太空中。
1965年6月3日，艾德·怀特离开太空舱30分钟。太空服是怎样确保他的人身安全呢？
多米尼克：宇航员的胸前有一个背包，通过空间生命线连接到太空舱获得氧气，所以并不是完全处于自由漂浮的状态。
    当时“阿波罗’，号面临着新挑战。太空服必须能够自给自足，让宇航员能在月球表面自由地漫步。他们是怎样办到的呢？
多米尼克：在实现“阿波罗”计划的时候，有非常轻便的维生系统，令宇航员像一只自动的太空船。因为当宇航员穿上维生系统后，可以离开船舱，在月球表面走动。
    他们往重要的保温手套上加上订做好的防滑指尖，以助宇航员们采集800磅重的月球岩石和土壤。他们还加上了更富有弹性的关节。
多米尼克：我们在太空服的腰部和臀部做了一些改良，使走动更灵活。后来我们还要坐在太空车上，太空服经改良后方便了很多。
    今天，宇航员穿着最先进的太空服建设太空站并维修卫星。

Astronaut: The suit itself consists of a life-support system on the back,the displays and controls for that life-support system on the front, or module, the pressure suit itself, and then attachments for tools and other equipment.
  How does the life support system work?
Astronaut: The backpack provides that oxygen. It flows over the head of the crew member, down through the body. It's removed through the arms and the bottom of the feet. This is to ensure that, even in zero gravity,the whole suit is circulated, that we don't have pockets of CO2 buildup.
  At a time when more astronauts than ever are going into space, men and women, custom building 10 million dollar suits for each one of them wouldn't be cost effective. So, how is NASA suiting them up?
Astronaut: We now have sizing rings that can simply twist-lock and stack the rings or remove the rings. The crew members can actually do this on orbit. This'll allow them to be able to resize the suit for spacestation while they're up there instead of sending a suit sized just for that person.
  Finally, it would be impossible to test the suits and train the astronauts without simulating the environment of space here on earth. How do they do that? They spend hundreds of hours at the bottom of a massive training pool that houses a mock-up of a shuttle. The half million gallons of water simulate the weightless environment of space. While shuttle astronauts are busy building a space station, NASA is preparing for the future.
Astronaut: Right now our advanced space suit group is working on the next generation space suit that will hopefully go back to the moon then on to Mars. The Mars mission will have our crews on the planet's surface for possibly up to 500 days or more·So they'll be doing very extensive geological surveys as well as habitat building and maintenance.
  An exciting prospect, especially for astronauts.
Dominic: The next century will duly be the greatest achievement of the species when we learn to live and work on other places in the solar system.
And we will. And the next century's a time to do it.

宇舫员：现在的太空服在背后装有维生系统，前面有维生系统的显示和控制器或模件，还有压力月，本身以及其他工具与设备的配件。
维生系统是怎样运作的？
宇航员：背包供给氧气，经太空工作人员的头上流下到身体部分，从手臂和脚底流走。确保在失重的状态下，空气也能在太空服内流动，不会积聚大量的二氧化碳。
    现在，越来越多的宇航员要进入太空，有男有女，为每个人制造价值一千万美元的太空服不符合成本效益。那么美国太空总署怎样使他们有合身的太空服穿呢？
宇航员：我们现在用可以拧紧的尺码环，环的数量可以增减。宇航员可以在升空后调校环的数目，也可以在上边的太空站里调校太空服，而不用为了每个人量身度造。
    最后，必须在地球上模拟太空环境测试太空服，并对宇航员进行训练。怎么做呢？他们接连几百个小时在放置了模拟太空船的大水池底接受训练。用五十万加仑的水模拟太空的失重环境，正当飞船上的宇航员忙于建设太空站的时候，美国太空总署则在为未来做好准备。
宇航员：现在，我们的先进太空服研究小组正在研究新一代的太空服，希望可以穿上月球，然后上火星。登火星计划将让我们的宇航员们在火星上逗留大约五百天，甚至更久。他们除了开展广泛的地质勘测外，还要进行驻地建设和修缮工作。
    尤其对宇航员而言，这是一个令人激动的前景。
多米尼克：宇航员将在下个世纪真正有最好的成就。到时我们将在太阳系的其他星球上学习怎样生活和工作。在下个世纪我们一定可以办到。

注释：
1) vacuum：n．真空
2) pass out：（口语）昏倒．失去知觉
3) NASA：National Aeronautics and  Space Administration美国国家航空和宇宙航行局
4) mission: n．代表团，使团，战斗 （飞行）任务
5) capsule：n．密封座（舱）
6) Dominic:（人名）多米尼克，是美国宇航局太空服制造工程师
7) umbilical：a．（宇）空间生命线（把在空间航行器舱外工作的宇宙飞行员和航行器联系起来并为飞行员  提供氧气的线路）
8) pose：v．被（难题）难住，使（人） 困惑
9) roam: v．；曼步，漫游
10) incorporate二v．结合，合并
11) accommodate：v．接纳，供应，调下
12) roving: a.漫游的漂泊的
13) don：v．（古）穿戴
14) module：n．模件，模块，舱
15）crew: n.（飞机火车、轮船等）全体工作人员
16) suit up:美国英语，指为了工作的目的穿上特殊的衣服
17) stack：v．堆起，加起
18) mock-up:制作大模型

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