美国国家公共电台 NPR A NASA Astronaut Stays In Orbit With SpaceX And Boeing

 

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

Now the latest installment¹ in our series Brave New Workers about people adapting to the changing economy.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I need a job, and I don't have a skill set other than flying.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Maybe I don't just need a different teaching job. Maybe I need a different career.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: In 1979, I started my trucking career. And I wanted to have the American dream.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MCCAMMON: It's difficult to think of a more quintessential government project than space travel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN F. KENNEDY: We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are.

MCCAMMON: But funding priorities have shifted. The U.S. shuttle program shut down in 2011. Since then, U.S. astronauts have relied on Russian spacecraft to reach the International Space Station. But NASA is now handing off some of the work it used to do to private companies like SpaceX and Boeing. And that means new jobs for those helping² with the transition.

SUNITA WILLIAMS: I'm a member of this - what we call the commercial crew cadre in our astronaut office.

MCCAMMON: That's astronaut Sunita Williams, who was the second female commander of the space station. Now, she's one of a small group of NASA astronauts helping SpaceX and other companies test and tweak their designs for technologies that will eventually carry astronauts into orbit and beyond.

WILLIAMS: Like a consultant³, making sure their spacecraft is ready to go.

MCCAMMON: Williams is still excited, recounting the day of her first launch in 2006 after years of preparation.

WILLIAMS: Launch day was unbelievable.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: T-minus four minutes and counting.

WILLIAMS: You're like, oh, my gosh, we're really going to go.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Ten seconds.

WILLIAMS: And then the main engines light. And the spacecraft moves.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: We have liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery as we continue building the International Space Station.

WILLIAMS: And three of us on the mid⁴ deck were rookies. And we were just hooting⁵ and hollering because it is like the best roller coaster ride you've ever been on. All that momentum⁶, all that vibration⁷, all that noise is just, you know - you are part of it, and it's just launching off the planet. And then as soon as the main engines shut off, you're just floating.

And we were laughing hysterically⁸ as your pen starts to float. You take your gloves off, the gloves start to float. It's pretty spectacular.

I've lived in this space station for two what we call long-duration increments⁹. So my first time was 6 1/2 months. The second time was about 4 1/2 months. And every day is different. You know, one day, you might be cleaning the toilet. The next day, you might be doing some potentially Nobel Prize-winning science.

Because we're up there for long-duration missions, we really try to keep a normal day, sort of emulating¹⁰ what we do on Earth. So generally, we get up at, you know, 6 o'clock or so, and then there's daily planning conferences with control centers all over the world. We get to work, and that might be getting ready for a spacewalk, might be doing a spacewalk, might be doing science experiments. Friday night is Friday night. And when I was up there, we tried to get together and maybe watch an American movie or a Russian movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GROUNDHOG DAY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) It's Groundhog Day.

WILLIAMS: Bill Murray was a favorite, so "Groundhog Day" was sort of a funny movie to watch when you're up there because you sort of feel like you're in a Groundhog Day.

MCCAMMON: While she was up there, Sunita Williams set a record for number of spacewalks and longest space walk by a female astronaut. In 2015, NASA chose her for its commercial crew program, which advises the private companies contracted by NASA. She says even though she's working with familiar components¹¹ and protocols¹², her new job feels like a new frontier.

WILLIAMS: This is really different from my old job. You know, I became an astronaut, learned everything I could about the shuttle and went through classes to understand all the systems, went through simulators. It was all laid out already. The plan was there. And you had to get this, this, this and this done before you can go fly in space, right? These systems - they're brand new. They don't really have training systems established for them yet. We're sort of creating that right now with the folks at the companies. We're talking about, like, what things are important? How much does the astronaut really need to know? And you know, just also the classic things like getting in the space suit. Can you do it fast, you know, in case you have an emergency? Can you get in your seat? Can I reach all the controls. We're establishing all that right now.

It's just the right time for private companies to do space. NASA's been going to International Space Station for a number of years. The shuttle was pretty expensive, and it was old, frankly¹³ - you know, 1970s technology. Looked like an old 737, you know, with a cockpit full of switches.

Commercial space is definitely going to benefit all of us in some form or fashion, right? You know, it's providing transportation for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. So that's in the immediate¹⁴ future. But when you step back and look at what's going on, this is research and development in rocketry of how to make systems safer for space travel with new ideas and new manufacturing techniques, which will make spacecraft safer and smarter and better.

We want to keep reaching. We want to keep learning. We want to keep finding the next thing. And this type of exploration with a common goal, a common good of looking at something farther and bigger than ourselves, totally opens the door for collaboration¹⁵ and cooperation for people from all over the world.

MCCAMMON: That's astronaut Sunita Williams. She's one of the voices from our series Brave New Workers about adapting to a changing economy.

1 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

4 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

5 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

8 hysterically   

ad. 歇斯底里地

参考例句：

• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
• She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着，她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。

9 increments   

n.增长( increment的名词复数 )；增量；增额；定期的加薪

参考例句：

• These increments were mixed and looked into the 5.56mm catridge case. 将各种药粒进行混和，装在5．56毫米的弹壳中。 来自辞典例句
• The Rankine scale has scale increments equal to the FahrenheIt'scale. 兰氏温标的温度间距与华氏温标的相同。 来自辞典例句

10 emulating   

v.与…竞争( emulate的现在分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The possibilities of producing something entirely new by emulating nature's very wide crosses are enticing. 用自然界的非常广泛的杂交方法创造出全新植物种的可能性是诱人的。 来自辞典例句
• The human emulating this archetypal patterning will be quite the accomplished businessperson. 这类原型模式者会是一个很成功的商人。 来自互联网

11 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

12 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

15 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。