新奇事件簿 国际空间站安上了充气房（在线收听）

America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully inflated 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 fully inflate. ISS crew members now have to wait a week before entering it. NASA engineers must first ensure it is airtight. The blow-up compartment 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 Module, or BEAM for short. It is named after Bigelow Aerospace, the company that designed and built it. Company founder 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。