2021年经济学人 史上最孤独的人:迈克尔·柯林斯(1)

Obituary¹: Michael Collins

讣告：迈克尔·柯林斯

The third man

第三人

Michael Collins, astronaut, died on April 28th, aged² 90

宇航员迈克尔·柯林斯，于4月28日离世，享年90岁

The moon that filled the window of the spacecraft Columbia was not one Michael Collins had ever seen before.

迈克尔·柯林斯（Michael Collins）从没见过这般景象：“哥伦比亚号”指挥舱窗外被月亮填满，

It was absolutely three-dimensional, its belly³ bulging⁴ out towards him. Cascading⁵ sunlight formed a halo round it.

如此立体、圆鼓鼓地凸向他。日光照射在月亮周围形成光晕，

The lighter⁶ parts were a lot lighter than usual, the jagged mountains darker. It was electrifying⁷. Then the feeling passed.

亮处比平常要亮很多，参差不齐的山脉稍显暗沉。这样的情景令他振奋，这样的感觉稍纵即逝。

“Hello Moon!” he quipped. “How’s the old backside?”

“月亮你好呀！”他打趣道，“你那边的屁股还好吗？”

This was the closest he had come, as the Apollo 11 crew on July 19th 1969 scouted⁸ out their best landing place.

这是他距月球最近的一次。1969年7月19日，阿波罗11号机组人员到处寻找最佳着陆点。

But he knew all about the Moon: dry, lifeless, rough as a corncob. Sometimes it looked like a sun-seared peach pit, sometimes like smallpox⁹.

他早就对月球了如指掌：气候干燥、了无生气，表面坑洼的像根玉米棒。有时，月面看起来像晒干的桃核，有时又像天花。

What it never looked was interesting. He would certainly much rather have flown off to Mars.

总之从来没有呈现过有趣的样子。相比而言，他更希望飞到火星。

It was therefore no hardship, when his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the lunar module¹⁰ Eagle down to the surface and clumped¹¹ about on it,

所以，当同事尼尔·阿姆斯特朗（Neil Armstrong）和巴兹·奥尔德林（Buzz Aldrin）将“鹰”号登月舱降落在月球表面、费劲力气踏上月球时，

for him to stay for 27 hours in orbit in Columbia.

“哥伦比亚”号指挥舱的柯林斯在飞船轨道停留了27个小时，这于他而言并非难事。

Someone had to get them home. Besides, he loved Columbia, finest of ships, commodious¹² and a friend.

总要有人把登月者接回家。柯林斯喜欢也最爱“哥伦比亚号”，她宽敞舒适，像他的好朋友。

It pained him to think of Neil and Buzz trailing their grimy moon-goo into it.

一想到尼尔和巴兹会把脏兮兮的月球粘土带进船舱，他就难过不已。

On his previous spaceflight, the Gemini 10 mission with John Young in 1966 to practise manoeuvering in Earth orbit,

在此前的1966年，他和约翰·杨（John Young）一起操纵双子座10号执行地球轨道飞行任务时，

the two of them had squashed into a cabin the size of the front seat of a Volkswagen.

两人挤在大众汽车前座大小的机舱中，

By contrast Columbia almost reminded him, if you took the centre couch out, of Washington National Cathedral.

相比之下，如果撤走航天座椅，他甚至觉得“哥伦比亚号”宽敞如华盛顿国家大教堂。

When he later became director of the new National Air and Space Museum, planning and completing it on time and under budget,

后来，柯林斯担任国家航空航天博物馆的馆长，负责规划部署，按时按预算完成了场馆的建设，

she had a place of honour, right by Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis.

他让“哥伦比亚号”光荣地坐落在林德伯格的“圣路易斯精神号”身边。

Ensconced in Columbia he could dine in splendour on tubes of his favourite cream-of-chicken soup, drink fairly hot coffee,

在“哥伦比亚号”里坐定后，他可以美美地享用鸡肉奶油汤，喝点热咖啡，

listen to music and crank up the thermostat¹³ to 76 degrees.

听听音乐，把恒温器调高到24.4度。

For 48 minutes in each of 14 orbits, as he passed the Moon’s meteor-battered backside, it was a joy to get Mission Control to shut up for a while.

每飞行48分钟，他就变换到14条轨道的其中一条，经过被陨石撞击的月球背面时，他会暂时关闭任务控制系统，静静地享受这段时间。

So when the press called him the loneliest man in history, or at least since Adam, 65 miles above his comrades, 250,000 miles from home, that was ridiculous.

所以，当媒体称他为史上最孤独的人时（或者至少自亚当以来），想想他正处于同事头顶65英里、距家25万英里，多么不可思议。

Occasionally forgotten, perhaps.

只是，有时候他也许会被遗忘。

1 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

5 cascading   

流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流

参考例句：

• First of all, cascading menus are to be avoided at all costs. 首先，无论如何都要避免使用级联菜单。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 electrifying   

v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
• The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句

8 scouted   

寻找，侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 )； 物色（优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等）

参考例句：

• They scouted around for a shop that was open late. 他们四处寻找，看看还有没有夜间营业的商店。
• They scouted around for a beauty parlour. 他们四处寻找美容院。

9 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

10 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。

11 clumped   

adj.[医]成群的v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的过去式和过去分词 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• The bacteria clumped together. 细菌凝集一团。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He clumped after her, up the stairs, into his barren office. 他拖着沉重的步伐跟在她的后面上楼了，走进了他那个空荡荡的诊所。 来自辞典例句

12 commodious   

adj.宽敞的；使用方便的

参考例句：

• It was a commodious and a diverting life.这是一种自由自在，令人赏心悦目的生活。
• Their habitation was not merely respectable and commodious,but even dignified and imposing.他们的居所既宽敞舒适又尊严气派。

13 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。