VOA慢速英语2020 宇航员抵达肯尼迪航天中心准备周末前往国际空间站

Four astronauts arrived at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday to prepare for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS).

4名宇航员周日抵达了佛罗里达州的约翰·肯尼迪航天中心，准备前往国际空间站。

An airplane brought the astronauts to Kennedy from the U.S. space agency's training center in Houston, Texas. The three Americans and one Japanese are set to leave for the ISS Saturday night, if weather conditions permit.

一架飞机将这些宇航员从德克萨斯州休斯顿的美国宇航局培训中心带到了肯尼迪。如果天气条件允许，这3名美国宇航员和1名日本宇航员将于周六晚上出发前往国际空间站。

The flight will be the second crew launch for SpaceX, a private company working with NASA to carry astronauts to space. The first SpaceX flight, in May 2020, made history. It was the first time a private company had launched astronauts into Earth's orbit.

这将是美国太空探索技术公司的第二次载人发射，这家私营公司与美国宇航局合作将宇航员运送到太空。该公司在2020年5月的首次飞行创造了历史。这是首次由私营公司将宇航员送入地球轨道。

SpaceX built and operated the Falcon¹ 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried two NASA astronauts to the space station. The crew – astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley - returned to Earth in August after a two-month stay.

美国太空探索技术公司建造并运营的猎鹰9号火箭和天龙号飞船将2名美国宇航员带到了国际空间站。罗贝特·贝肯和道格拉斯·赫利这两名宇航员在空间站停留了2个月之后，于8月份重返地球。

A Crew Dragon spacecraft – carried by a Falcon 9 rocket - will again transport the astronauts on the next mission. This time, the four astronauts are expected to spend about six months on the ISS.

猎鹰9号火箭搭载的天龙号飞船将在接下来的任务中再次运送宇航员。这一次，4名宇航员预计将在国际空间站停留大约6个月时间。

The crew includes Americans Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker. Also making the trip is Soichi Noguchi of Japan's Aerospace² Exploration Agency.

这批船员包括美国宇航员迈克尔·霍普金斯、维克多·格洛弗和香农·沃克。参加这次行程的还有日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的野口宗一。

Hopkins is a 51-year-old Air Force colonel from Missouri. He will be flying to the space station for his second time. He first traveled to the ISS in 2013 and spent a total of 166 days in space.

霍普金斯是来自密苏里州的一名51岁的空军上校。他将第二次飞往空间站。他于2013年首次前往国际空间站，并在太空一共停留了166天。

Walker is a 55-year-old physicist³ from Houston. The upcoming flight will be her second trip to the space station. Her first came in 2010, when she spent 163 days in space. Walker's husband – retired⁴ NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas – helped build the ISS.

沃克是来自休斯顿的一名55岁的物理学家。接下来的这趟飞行将是她第二次前往国际空间站。她第一次飞行是在2010年，当时在太空停留了163天。沃克的丈夫是美国宇航局退役宇航员安德鲁·托马斯，他帮助建立了国际空间站。

Glover is a 44-year-old Navy commander from Los Angeles. This will be his first space mission. He will be the first African American to move into the ISS for an extended stay.

格洛弗是来自洛杉矶的一名44岁的海军中校。这将是他的首次太空任务。他将成为首名进入国际空间站并长期停留的非洲裔美国人。

The 55-year-old Noguchi will be making his third trip to the space station. His longest visit came in 2010, when he spent 161 days on the ISS and served as Flight Engineer. Dragon will be Noguchi's third transportation vehicle for getting to space. In the past, he flew on a U.S. space shuttle and Russia's Soyuz spacecraft.

55岁的野口宗一将是第3次前往国际空间站。他最长的一次访问是在2010年，当时他在国际空间站上度过了161天，并担任了飞行工程师。天龙号飞船将成为他前往太空的第3种运输工具。过去，他曾经乘坐美国航天飞机和俄罗斯的联盟号飞船。

The astronauts named their Dragon spacecraft Resilience to note the many challenges Americans have faced in 2020. These include the coronavirus health crisis, protests against racial injustice⁵ and a difficult presidential campaign season.

宇航员们将他们的天龙号飞船取名为复原号，以表示美国人在2020年面临的诸多挑战。这些挑战包括新冠病毒健康危机、反对种族不公的抗议活动以及艰难的总统竞选季。

"It's been a tough year for everybody for a lot of different reasons," crew commander Mike Hopkins said after arriving in Florida. "We felt like if the name of our vehicle could give a little hope, a little inspiration, put a smile on people's face, then that is definitely what we wanted to do."

船长霍普金斯在抵达佛罗里达州后表示：“由于许多不同的原因，大家今年都很难。我们觉得，如果我们的飞船名称能够给人们一点希望、一点灵感，博人们为之一笑，那我们的目的就达到了。”

SpaceX officials say the company expects to launch seven Dragons over the next 14 months: three to carry astronauts and four for transporting supplies.

美国太空探索技术公司表示，该公司预计在未来14个月里发射7次天龙号飞船，其中3次是运载宇航员，4次是运送物资。

1 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

2 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

3 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。