美国国家公共电台 NPR Astronaut John Young, Who Flew In Space 6 Times, Dies At 87

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We want to take a moment now to remember John Young, NASA's longest-serving astronaut. His career at NASA was filled with firsts, including being the first to fly in space six times. Young was also 1 of 12 people to walk on the moon. Today, he died at the age of 87. NPR's Russell Lewis has this remembrance.

RUSSELL LEWIS, BYLINE¹: When it came to John Young, there were many superlatives.

ANDREW CHAIKIN: If anybody deserves the title of legend, it would be John Young.

LEWIS: That's Andrew Chaikin, a space expert who has written extensively on NASA. He said John Young was special. He was co-pilot on the first Gemini mission in 1965 and then commanded a Gemini flight the next year and orbited the moon on Apollo 10. And then, in 1972, he commanded Apollo 16. Just minutes after landing on the lunar surface, he peered out the window and was at a loss for words.

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CHAIKIN: You can - boy, I can see Ray Crater² from here - boy.

LEWIS: Chaikin says Young's NASA career up to that point, culminating with a moon landing, had been impressive.

CHAIKIN: You know, that alone would have qualified³ him for being in the Hall of Fame of astronaut careers. But the thing that really made him a true legend was in 1981, when he commanded the very first space shuttle mission.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Columbia, Houston, you're go at throttle⁴ up.

JOHN YOUNG: Roger, go at throttle up.

LEWIS: Young was an aeronautical⁵ engineer who later in his NASA career served as the chief of the Astronaut Office, choosing those who would fly on the shuttle. He also advised on engineering, operations and safety matters. Chaikin says Young was a force at the space agency.

CHAIKIN: He would go into meetings with the specialists for a particular system. And he would say in this kind of country boy way, well, you know what, I don't understand much about the such and such but what gets me is - and then he would proceed to ask a - just a completely penetrating⁶ technical question that would just, you know, flatten⁷ these people.

LEWIS: Young avoided the limelight but was outspoken⁸ and known for writing hundreds of memos⁹ pointing out safety flaws and operational concerns. In his autobiography¹⁰, he said he felt responsible for the loss of the shuttles Columbia and Challenger because his crews were on board. He wrestled¹¹ with how the agency could have missed the signs. In a 2004 NPR interview, Young said the future of the human race's survival is not on Earth but in space.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

YOUNG: I mean, it's pretty obvious. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. If you look at the inevitable¹² consequences and you look at our technologies that we need to make it, you'd come to the same conclusion. And, you know, it's going to take a lot of thinking but, you know, somebody ought to be worried about it.

LEWIS: John Young, Navy test pilot, six-time astronaut and 42-year veteran of NASA. Russell Lewis, NPR News.

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1 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。

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。

5 aeronautical   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world. 这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。 来自辞典例句
• The advent of aircraft brought with it aeronautical engineering. 宇宙飞船的问世导致了航天工程的出现。 来自辞典例句

6 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

7 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

8 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

9 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

10 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

11 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。