美国国家公共电台 NPR Bruce McCandless, First Astronaut To Fly Untethered In Space, Has Died

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless has died. You may not know his name, but you've probably seen him in one of the most famous pictures ever taken in space. In 1984, McCandless strapped¹ on a jet-powered backpack and flew away from the shuttle by himself, untethered, with the Earth as a backdrop. It was the first time an astronaut ever floated free in space, and McCandless helped develop the technology. NPR's Russell Lewis has this remembrance of McCandless, who was 80 years old.

RUSSELL LEWIS, BYLINE²: Bruce McCandless had been an astronaut for a long time before he first flew in space aboard the shuttle. He was one of the ones who communicated with the crew of Apollo 11. Here's Neil Armstrong talking to McCandless as the spacecraft was about to enter lunar orbit during the first moon landing in 1969.

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NEIL ARMSTRONG: It's a view worth the price of the trip.

BRUCE MCCANDLESS: Well, there are a lot of us down here that would be willing to come along.

LEWIS: While he was waiting his turn to fly in space, he helped design what became to be known as the MMU, the Manned Maneuvering³ Unit.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: T-minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11...

LEWIS: McCandless first went to space in 1984 aboard the shuttle Challenger and took these jet-powered backpacks along. During the mission, McCandless climbed into the 300-pound contraption and slowly eased out of the shuttle's cargo⁴ bay as mission controllers looked on.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: You have a lot of envious⁵ people watching you. It looks like you're having a lot of fun up there.

MCCANDLESS: Yeah, it's working very nicely.

LEWIS: Neil Armstrong was on Bruce McCandless' mind when he took that first untethered foray into space. More than three decades later, he remembered precisely⁶ what he said.

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MCCANDLESS: It may have been one small step for Neil...

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MCCANDLESS: But it's a heck of a big leap for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Roger. Copy that, Bruce.

LEWIS: During a 2016 NPR interview, McCandless recalled the tension associated with the spacewalk. He said he wanted to say something to put people at ease.

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MCCANDLESS: My wife happened to be in Mission Control at the time. And she says that it - the laughter literally⁷ brought down the house, which was sort of what I had intended. I wanted to loosen things up a little.

LEWIS: It was nerve-wracking seeing McCandless out in space by himself. Relative to the Earth, he was flying almost 18,000 miles per hour. But relative to the shuttle, he was moving at a leisurely⁸ 1 foot per second. He says he wasn't nervous. He found it effortless. He had trained for that moment for years, ready for anything - if the suit's propulsion system failed or problems communicating with the shuttle. But what he wasn't prepared for was the temperature in the suit.

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MCCANDLESS: I got quite cold. My teeth were chattering⁹. I was shivering.

LEWIS: The suit was designed so astronauts could work strenuously¹⁰, not simply flying like he did on that first six-hour test. By the end of that spacewalk he had moved a little more than 300 feet away from the shuttle when the famous picture was taken, him facing the orbiter with the Earth and space in the background. McCandless says part of the attraction is the image's anonymity¹¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

MCCANDLESS: I had the gold sun visor down so that in principle people can imagine themselves in there instead of me.

LEWIS: McCandless said he was most proud that children came up to him later in life to say they'd seen the picture. He hoped it would inspire the next generation of explorers.

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MCCANDLESS: I like to encourage folks to look at that and say, well, I can do better than that.

LEWIS: Bruce McCandless showed the way. He finished second in his class of 899 at the U.S. Naval¹² Academy and used his engineering skills to make spaceflight safer. He once said the first untethered spacewalk was a mix of personal elation¹³ and professional pride. Russell Lewis, NPR News.

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1 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 envious   

adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的

参考例句：

• I don't think I'm envious of your success.我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

9 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

10 strenuously   

adv.奋发地，费力地

参考例句：

• The company has strenuously defended its decision to reduce the workforce. 公司竭力为其裁员的决定辩护。
• She denied the accusation with some warmth, ie strenuously, forcefully. 她有些激动，竭力否认这一指责。

11 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

12 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。

13 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。