新奇事件簿 国际空间站安上了充气房

America's National Aeronautics¹ and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully inflated⁴ a new, experimental room for crew members to use in space. The inflatable pod is now an extension to the International Space Station (ISS). It is roughly four metres long and 3.2 metres wide. It took three days to fully² inflate³. ISS crew members now have to wait a week before entering it. NASA engineers must first ensure it is airtight. The blow-up compartment⁵ is part of a test on the feasibility of inflatable accommodation on the Moon and Mars, and of orbiting space hotels. NASA paid $17.8 million for the demo capsule. It hopes this initial test will lead to bigger inflatable rooms at the space station.

美国航空航天局成功增添充气式太空舱。“充气房间”将作为国际空间站的延伸。“充气房”长约4米，宽约3.2米。充气工作持续三天。空间站工作人员要等一周才可进入。航天局工程师首先要确保完全密封。这也是为月球和火星建造充气式栖息地，以及绕轨道太空旅馆进行可行性测试。宇航局为“样板间”花费1780万美金。希望初期测试真的能够最终建造大规模“充气房间”。

The inflatable is the world's first blow-up capsule for astronauts, cosmonauts and other space travellers. It is called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module⁶, or BEAM for short. It is named after Bigelow Aerospace⁷, the company that designed and built it. Company founder⁸ Robert Bigelow has spent many years investing in and building hotels. He is currently working on a project to build two private space stations that could serve as hotels in the heavens by the end of the decade. He said he envisions inflatables as a big part of space travel and tourism in the future. The pods are small enough to transport as compressed, airless units, but big enough and sturdy enough to live in, once filled with air.

对于宇航员、太空人以及其他太空旅行者而言，该款“充气房”尚属世界首次。它被人称之为“毕格罗可扩展活动模块”，简称之”BEAM”。它是以建造设计公司“毕格罗航宇”名字命名。公司创建者罗伯特·毕格罗多年以来一直投资建造太空旅店。目前项目开发是建造两个私人空间站，计划十年内建造太空旅店。对于未来太空旅行以及太空旅游，他对“充气房”的重要作用早有预料。充气之前，“充气房”呈压缩无空气状态，且体积较小，分离舱可轻松运载，一旦充气完毕，“充气房”就将庞大无比，且可供人居住。

1 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

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 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

4 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

6 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

7 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。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。