2007-08-28, Critical Situation: Apollo 13 阿波罗13号

In Houston, Flight director Kranz is trying to make sense of the barrage¹ of information.

I am completely surrounded with reports coming in that I don’t fully² understand, but frankly³, problems are our business, and I thought we are going to solve these problems, get back on track,er, no big deal.

Well, you don't believe that O2 tank 1 pressure , do you... No,no,no, Surge tank 's good. We may have an instrumentation problem. Roger.)

I homed in on EECOM Sy Liebergot, principally because he has the responsibility for those things you need to stay alive in space, power, oxygen, pressure, heat, water.

Let's get our instrumentation that lined up to you guys. OKay, do we have instrumentation problems?

I am realizing that I am the focal point of all this, nothing to brag⁴ a bill . Can we tell them anything, do we have a real problem or is it instrument?

While Houston struggles to make sense of the data stream, Lovell checks the ship's tank gages. He is in for a shock.

The quantity gage⁵ on one of our oxygen tanks read zero and I could actually see the needle go down on the second quantity gage, very slowly.

Since oxygen is used both for breathing and as a source of power, it is vital they find the cause of the hemorrhage.

I knew we hadn't attacked the spacecraft, obviously, we are still breathing. There was no gaping⁶ hole that was leting air out.

With no sign of a meteor impact, they must search elsewhere. Lovell takes a look outside his window.

And I can’t tell you today why I did it. But I saw it escaping at a high rate of speed from the rear end of my spacecraft, the gas is substance. I did not take much intelligence on my part to realize that the gas is escaping and the needle on my second and last tank were one of the same. And very shortly, we will be completely out of oxygen.

The cold chill of realization⁷ came in that we had a real problem. And I don’t know what to do about it.

Kranz realizes that 56 hours into their mission, Apollo 13 is poised⁸ on the brink⁹ of catastrophe¹⁰.

Then I move into survival mode. Okay, our flight controler settle down, quit your guess and let's start work on this problem.

Okay, we've got 2 good IC processes, what are they I will tell you now.
It tells me that...

But Liebergot still has no clue what's happening or how to fix it.

(Now, just give me about two more minutes, alright? Okay, take your time.)

I had to find out where the leak was, I tried to isolate¹¹ it, I tried to save the roll, the remaining part of oxygen, otherwise crews were gonna be dead.

Liebergot realize his only hope of isolating¹² the leak is to close valves that feed oxygen into two of the fuel cells . But closing these valves is irreversible . Those two fuel cells will not work again.

It is his final option, that is my final option.

It’s a gamble but it is their only chance.

1 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

4 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

5 gage   

n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge]

参考例句：

• Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

6 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

8 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

9 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

11 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

12 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句