The Space Shuttle Atlantis and its four-person crew landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida just before dawn, bringing to a close a program that began in 1981 and leaving the United States temporarily with no vehicle to transport astronauts into space. It was a day of mixed emotions for people who gathered there to witness the last landing.
美国航天飞机“亚特兰蒂斯号”以及四名宇航员，7月21日(星期四)黎明之前，着陆于佛罗里达州肯尼迪太空中心。这一天在现场目睹航天飞机最后一次降落的群众，可说是百感交集。
As thousands of people along the central-Florida Atlantic Ocean coastline huddled in the pre-dawn darkness to watch, Atlantis came in from the southwest, a small spark of light in the dark sky. NASA commentator Rob Navias announced the end of the mission and the space shuttle program.
数千名群众黎明前就聚集在佛罗里达州中部的大西洋岸边，注视从西南方向飞来的亚特兰蒂斯号。这架航天飞机刚出现时，只是天空中的一颗亮点。美国航空航天管理局的讲解员罗布·内维亚斯宣布，航天飞机计划和任务，从此告终。
NAVIAS: "Nose gear touchdown. Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end."
他说：“起落架着地了。没有任何航天器能像它那样，燃起了一个时代的想象力。它的历史地位稳固。这架航天飞机最后一次降落在着陆点，它的旅程已经结束。”
Hundreds of people gathered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center to watch the shuttle return. But many visitors expressed uneasiness with the decision to end the space shuttle program before any other vehicle has been developed to replace it. Tony Diaz, who rode his motorcycle up from Miami to watch the landing, is one of the disgruntled space enthusiasts.
数百名群众聚集在肯尼迪太空中心的参观中心，注视航天飞机的归来。但是，也有很多人对在接替航天飞机的航天器研发成功之前，就终止航天计划感到不安。东尼·迪亚兹从迈阿密骑机车来到这里，为了观看航天飞机最后一次的着陆。他就是一名心中不不满的太空迷。
"I am really not very happy with what they have done to the space program ... because we are leaders and the United States should always be up there in space," said Diaz.
他说：“我对于他们处理太空计划的方式真的很不高兴 ....因为美国在太空探索中处于领先地位，美国应该不断地派人前往太空。”
Maria, who came with her family from Dallas, Texas, regrets that her children will never be able to see another shuttle mission. "It is pretty sad that this is the last time kids will be able to experience something like this," she said.
现场一位名叫玛丽亚的妇女来自德克萨斯州的达拉斯。她很遗憾，因为她的孩子们将永远无法看到另一次航天飞机执行飞行任务。
Private companies are working on such vehicles, but it could be several years before one is ready to take astronauts into orbit. Plans for eventual missions to an asteroid and to Mars could be decades away. But Daytona Beach, Florida resident Rob Hansen is more optimistic.
美国私人企业正在研发新的航天器。但是，距离能够搭载宇航员进入太空轨道，可能还要几年的时间。而登陆小行星或是火星的计划，也许还要几十年后才能实现。但是来自佛罗里达州戴托纳海滩市的居民罗布·汉森的看法比较乐观。
"We are moving on to privatizing this kind of operation and NASA is going to move on to exploration deeper out, so I think that will work out in the long run," noted Hansen.
他说：“在这个方面，我们正在走向私有化。航空航天管理局将继续做更深化的探索任务。所以我相信最终是会有成果的。”
Among the people with the strongest opinions are hundreds of NASA employees who are losing their jobs as the space shuttle program ends. Jonathan Miller, who works with the Johnson Space Center's Extra-Vehicular Activity Office in Houston and came here to see the last landing, says his concern goes well beyond the issue of job losses.
美国终止航天飞机计划将导致航天局的数百名员工失业，他们的不满情绪最强烈。乔纳森·米勒任职于休斯顿约翰逊太空中心的舱外行动部。他来到这里观看航天飞机的最后一次着陆。他说，他所关心的远超过失去工作的问题。
"The future of human space flight is critical to this nation as the leader in space and we are nervous that some of that leadership is lost," said Miller. "There is 30 years of momentum behind the shuttle program and it has just come to an end, moments ago."
他说：“人类太空飞行的未来发展，对于作为太空发展先导国家的美国非常重要。我们为了美国将失去部分领导地位而感到不安。航天飞机计划背后是三十年探索太空的冲力。而片刻之前，这种冲力结束了。”
The space shuttle Atlantis will remain here at the Kennedy Space Center, where it will eventually go on public display. The other three shuttles are being sent to museums and science centers in other parts of the country so that Americans will be able to see and experience part of the U.S. space program's history as they await its next step in space exploration. |