美国国家公共电台 NPR Astronaut Scott Kelly's Latest Mission: A Book

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There was nothing routine about what astronaut Scott Kelly pulled off - living in space for nearly a year, 340 consecutive¹ days, to be exact. It was important work meant to evaluate the impact of life in space on the human body. But it's also incredibly taxing and isolating². So in order to cope, Kelly learned to appreciate the routine chores of life on the International Space Station.

SCOTT KELLY: So you get up, you know, you go to the bathroom. You kind of do stuff you might do at home, although, you know, we don't have a shower. But you take a sponge bath. At breakfast, I'd watch the news, do the planning conference. And then the rest of the day is executing the plan. And the activities you do range from very sophisticated scientific experiments to fixing the toilet.

MARTIN: Really the biggest achievement was just existing up there for so long. Scientists measured Kelly's physiology³ and how it compared to his twin brother, astronaut Mark Kelly's, back on Earth. Scott Kelly tells his story in a new memoir⁴ that's out today titled "Endurance: A Year In Space, A Lifetime Of Discovery." I talked with Scott Kelly recently. And he joined us from Houston, naturally.

You've worked in space. You've been out tethered to the space station out there. You've seen Earth from so many miles away. I know it's hard to put into words, but what does it feel like to be out there?

KELLY: It's pretty crazy.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

KELLY: Yeah, it's a pretty crazy place. I mean, it's - you know, you realize you're in a vacuum and there's just the thin layers of a suit protecting you from the next micrometeoroid or space junk debris⁵ strike. The suit you wear is very complicated. It's difficult to work in, difficult to move in. But all that aside, it's a incredible experience, it's, you know, one of the highlights of my professional life. It's not exactly fun. It's kind of like the type-two kind of fun.

Type-one fun is the roller coaster. Type-two fun is the thing that's fun when you're done.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

KELLY: When you're doing it, you're like, man, this is hard. And when you're done, you're like, hey, that was awesome⁶.

MARTIN: That was awesome. Things do go wrong, though, from time to time. And you have to just compartmentalize it. You talked about when you're out there, you can't let your mind go to that place about what the consequences would be if X, Y, Z were to happen.

KELLY: Yeah, it does. You know, it does require a certain level of focus, especially when stuff, you know, starts going wrong or becomes difficult. You know, it's something I think the military trains us really well for is focusing on what we can control and ignoring what we can't, whether that's - well, in space, we can't control, you know, the fact that we could meet our demise⁷ at anytime. We can't control how distracting the Earth looks and how incredibly beautiful it is.

We can't control how everything floats around. And that makes stuff more difficult. So, yeah, compartmentalization is very important.

MARTIN: What was it like coming home? Not just going back into the Earth's atmosphere but, like, walking back into your house.

KELLY: Oh, walking into my house, it was surreal, you know, having not been there in over a year. Yeah, it was - you know, I came home, I got to do all these things I didn't get to do for a year like take a shower, sleep in a bed. And those were great but the best part about it, you know, was just being able to share the experience with my friends and family and those you care about.

MARTIN: What'd your brother tell you? What was the first thing he said to you?

KELLY: What did he say to me?

MARTIN: Yeah, when he got home.

KELLY: Because I don't remember, it was probably something like, I don't know, how's it going?

MARTIN: (Laughter).

KELLY: Or, hey, you don't look too bad.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: How are you doing? How is your body? A lot of this was about...

KELLY: I'm doing great.

MARTIN: ...How your body was going to hold up.

KELLY: Yeah, I'm doing - I mean, the stuff I can - you know, the symptomatic stuff, I would say, is fine. I don't have any long-term negative feelings, physically⁸, from being in space now. There's the things you can't see, that you can't feel. And hopefully I will never learn that those are a problem.

MARTIN: Do you miss anything about that experience?

KELLY: I miss the people that I was there with. Now all those people are back on Earth. But, you know, spending 24 hours a day, seven days a week with people is something that, you know, with these folks is something I'll never do with them again. So I miss them. I miss the work. The work is technically⁹ demanding. It's risky¹⁰. And even though I do some stuff that challenges me now, it doesn't challenge me in the same way. Writing a book is really hard.

It's a lot harder than I thought. But it's doesn't have the same consequences. You know, if I write a bad sentence, people are only going to get angry with me. They're not going to die.

MARTIN: Yeah.

KELLY: (Laughter).

MARTIN: Do you, in some way, grieve being on the other side of this experience? I imagine the anticipation¹¹ of it was all encompassing¹². And it is such an achievement, even if you downplay it. And really, you are unlikely, I think it's fair to say, to do anything like this again, right?

KELLY: Yeah, yeah, I do. You know, it hasn't been an easy adjustment, actually, coming back from this. I - not only did I, you know, come back from this incredible experience but I kind of retired¹³ from NASA and I moved on to something else that is completely different than flying in space. You know, something I was familiar with and, you know, I talk about spaceflight and I do a lot of public speaking now. But, you know, writing the book was new.

And, you know, I had some personal challenges in the, you know, last year and a half I was back. My dad passed away.

MARTIN: Oh, I'm sorry.

KELLY: Yeah. Yeah, there was...

MARTIN: It's been a tough year.

KELLY: It's been a rough - it's been a busy year and a half since I landed.

MARTIN: How do you get through that, though, when you inevitably¹⁴ think to yourself, OK, that was it, that may have been the apex¹⁵ of my career? How do you push through that?

KELLY: Compartmentalize, like you said.

MARTIN: Yeah, there it is again.

KELLY: Focus on what you can control and ignore what you can't.

MARTIN: The book is called "Endurance: A Year In Space, A Lifetime Of Discovery." It's a memoir by Commander Scott Kelly. Commander Kelly, thank you so much.

KELLY: Oh, thank you so much for your time and I enjoyed the conversation.

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

3 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

7 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

9 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

11 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

12 encompassing   

v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• Being too large and all-encompassing is a common defect among state-owned enterprises. 过分追求大而全，是国企的一大通病。 来自互联网
• Our services are: all-encompassing, love justice and high quality. 我们的服务目标是：全方位、真情义、高质量。 来自互联网

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

15 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。