美国有线新闻 CNN 2016-8-17（在线收听）

If you think Mars would be a cool place to visit, you are right. Its average temperature is negative 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And just like in the movie "The Martian", NASA is trying to see if they can grow potatoes in Mars-like soil. It's also spending about $1 billion a year to develop a spacecraft that could one day take people to the Red Planet.

如果你认为火星是一个凉爽的地方，那你是正确的。火星的平均温度是零下80华氏度。就像电影《火星救援》里演的一样，美国国家航空航天局正试图在类似火星的土壤上种土豆。美国国家航空航天局还在研发某天可以将人类送上红色星球火星的宇宙飞船，这一项目每年耗费10亿美元。

We took a seat inside.

我们去飞船里面坐坐。

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Space has never been more accessible. There is a growing appetite for space tourism. And private programs like this one at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center can get pretty much anyone with money and good health ready for a ride to space.

CNN记者蕾切尔·克莱恩：太空从未如此接近。太空旅游的需求在日益增加。美国国家航空航天训练和研究中心开展的这种私人计划可以把任何有钱且身体健康的人送往太空。

But that's just a quick trip and down to what's called suborbital space.

但是这种旅程时间很短，而且只是在亚轨道飞行。

If we want to get to deep space, that's a whole other challenge. A human hasn't been there in over 40 years. But NASA is looking to change that.

进入外太空完全是另一种挑战。40多年来，人类还没有去过外太空。而美国国家航空航天局想改变这种情况。

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will stand taller than the Statue of Liberty, longer than a football field.

身份不明的男性：它将比自由女神像更高，比足球场更长。

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be the most powerful rocket ever built, capable of going into the deep space or anywhere else you want to go.

身份不明的男性：它将成为有史以来最强大的火箭，能进入外太空和任何你想去的地方。

CRANE: They're talking about space launch system or SLS, NASA's new heavy lift rocket.

克莱恩：他们说的是美国国家航空航天局新推出的重型大推力火箭——太空发射系统（简称SLS）。

ANNOUNCER: The dawn of Orion and a new era of American space exploration —

广播员：“猎户座”飞船，美国太空探索新纪元……

CRANE: Together with the spacecraft Orion, which will go on top of the rocket, humans could explore our solar system deeper than ever before.

克莱恩：加上火箭顶部的“猎户座”飞船，人类可以比以往任何时候更深入地探索太阳系。

There's only two of us right now in here —

这里现在只有我们两个人……

MARK GEYER, NASA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Yes.

NASA副局长马克·盖耶：对。

CRANE: — and you're saying the thing could it up to six.

克莱恩：你说这个飞船最多可承载6个人。

And we got an inside look at what that new spacecraft looks like.

我们进里面看看这个新飞船的样子。

Could we even survive 21 days just the two of us inside of —

我们两个人可以在这里生存21天……

GEYER: Yes, it would be a wild, yes.

盖耶：对，有点疯狂。

CRANE: Orion will take up to six astronauts into deep space for 21 days.

克莱恩：“猎户座”飞船可承载6名宇航员完成为期21天的外太空探索任务。

Is there any way we can get inside these chairs here, do you think?

你认为有什么方法能让我们坐到这些椅子上吗？

GEYER: Yes.

盖耶：有。

CRANE: How was Orion outfitted to get us to deep space?

克莱恩：“猎户座”飞船为什么能让我们进入外太空？

GEYER: State of the art heat shields to protect the crew on entry. Parachute systems. A very lightweight system, so Orion is, you know, over 40 percent composites, which means it's light.

盖耶：最先进的热防护系统可以在宇航员进入舱内时提供保护。还有降落伞系统。这是轻量级系统，“猎户座”飞船40%以上的材料采用的是复合型材料，所以它非常轻。

One of the things special about Orion is the size. So, four people in 21 days gives you a lot of capability whether it's exploring an asteroid or on the surface of a planet.

“猎户座”飞船其中一个与众不同的地方是它的尺寸。4个人在21天时间里，有能力探索小行星或是行星表面。

CRANE: Why 21 days?

克莱恩：为什么是21天？

GEYER: Well, 21 days — it gets you really into this high orbits around the moon, which allows you to either do missions at the moon or do transfers on to asteroids around the Mars. So, it's about the right duration.

盖耶：21天，可以进入高月球轨道，这使你可以在月球上做任务，或是转移到火星附近的行星去。所以，21天是合适的周期。

CRANE: For a journey to Mars, the crew would have to transfer from Orion to a larger habitat.

克莱恩：在火星之旅中，宇航员必须要从“猎户座”飞船转移到更大的加压舱去。

GEYER: If you're going to go to Mars, which is somewhere up to a year and a half to three-year mission, you need more volume.

盖耶：火星任务是一项持续1年半至3年的任务，需要更多容量。

CRANE: Right.

克莱恩：对。

GEYER: You need bigger head module, more food.

盖耶：需要更大的头部模块，更多食物。

CRANE: Orion still doesn't have an exact destination. But whether it's the moon or Mars, it's going to take a powerful rocket to get it out there.

克莱恩：“猎户座”飞船目前仍没有确定目的地。但是无论目的地是月球还是火星，都需要由强有力的火箭运送。

NASA has already spent approximately $7.3 billion on the SLS program and each rocket will only be good for one mission.

美国国家航空航天局已经在SLS项目上花费了约73亿美元，每枚火箭只能执行一次任务。

A later model of the rocket will be even more powerful and could take us to Mars.

后期火箭模型将会更强大，可以将我们送去火星。

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Space launch system is our path to Mars.

身份不明的男性：太空发射系统是我们通往火星的方法。

CRANE: Is it our only path?

克莱恩：是唯一的途径吗？

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, it's our only path.

身份不明的男性：目前是我们唯一的选择。

CRANE: NASA is testing the engines and they've already sent Orion on a flight test. The first manned Orion SLS mission is set for 2021.

克莱恩：美国国家航空航天局正在测试引擎，他们已经对“猎户座”飞船进行了飞行测试。“猎户座”飞船计划于2021年进行首次载人飞行任务。