美国国家公共电台 NPR Gene Cernan, Last Man To Walk On The Moon, Dies At 82

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: 

The last person to leave footprints on the moon has died at age 82. Gene¹ Cernan was big, brash and gregarious², and if he hadn't been lucky, he could have missed his chance to walk on the moon. NPR's Russell Lewis has this remembrance.

RUSSELL LEWIS, BYLINE³: Gene Cernan challenged himself his whole life. When he entered the military, he chose to be a naval⁴ aviator⁵. Landing on an aircraft carrier is perhaps the hardest thing to do in aviation. Cernan did it because it wasn't easy. He said he was constantly pushing himself to do better and be better.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

GENE CERNAN: My dad always used to say, just go and do your best. You're not going to be better than everyone at everything, and he was right, I wasn't. But he was also right one other time, and he said, said someday you're going to surprise yourself. Just do your best, and someday you're going to surprise yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: We have ignition - two, one, zero. We have a liftoff. We have a liftoff and it's lighting⁶ up the areas. It's just like daylight here at Kennedy Space Center as the Saturn⁷ V is moving off the pad.

LEWIS: Cernan's final trip in space was also the final time NASA sent people to the moon - Apollo 17, which took off on December 7, 1972.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Apollo 17 now 65 miles high.

CERNAN: OK, four minutes and we're go here, Bob.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Roger, Gene, we're going around the room, look go here. You're looking real good, Gene, right down the line.

LEWIS: Four days later, Cernan landed the lunar module⁸ on the moon with astronaut Jack⁹ Schmidt. Cernan couldn't hide his enthusiasm as he exited the spacecraft.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CERNAN: I'd like to dedicate the first step of Apollo 17 to all those who made it possible. Oh, my God, unbelievable.

LEWIS: Decades later, Gene Cernan reflected on that moment in this 2015 NPR interview.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CERNAN: The first steps had been made by others long before I got there, but those were my first steps.

LEWIS: Cernan is one of only three people to travel to the moon twice. Dreaming big and working hard were two things Cernan always did. He grew up in Chicago. Neither of his parents went to college, but he got several degrees in engineering. Despite his technical background, Cernan's time on the moon and in space forever altered his life. Cernan said he began to look and think about things differently.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CERNAN: And when you leave the Earth, it's not only technologically¹⁰ different, it's philosophically¹¹ different and it's spiritually different.

LEWIS: Many astronauts had difficulty describing what it was actually like to be in space, not in a technical sense, but in finding the words to share that remarkable¹² experience. There's something else about Cernan, he turned down the opportunity to land on the moon during an earlier mission. On that flight, Cernan would have been the pilot, but he wanted to be commander in charge of the mission.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CERNAN: I proved to myself - as I said, I'd sort of felt like I'd been an underdog most of my life. I proved to myself that I was good enough, that I could get the job done. That was a big point in my life.

LEWIS: Gene Cernan spent his post-NASA life trying to inspire young people. He once said, dream the impossible and go out and make it happen. I walked on the moon, what can't you do? Russell Lewis, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ABE VIGODA SONG, "DREAM OF MY LOVE - CHASING AFTER YOU")

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 gregarious   

adj.群居的，喜好群居的

参考例句：

• These animals are highly gregarious.这些动物非常喜欢群居。
• They are gregarious birds and feed in flocks.它们是群居鸟类，会集群觅食。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

5 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

6 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

7 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

8 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。

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

10 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

11 philosophically   

adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地

参考例句：

• He added philosophically that one should adapt oneself to the changed conditions. 他富于哲理地补充说，一个人应该适应变化了的情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Harry took his rejection philosophically. 哈里达观地看待自己被拒的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。