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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
12 July 2006
watch Space Pioneer report
He is unfamiliar1 to most of us, but in the world of aviation Joe Kittinger is a true American hero. Paul Sisco has more about one of America's space pioneers.
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Joe Kittinger
Captain Joseph Kittinger, U.S. Air Force retired2. On August 16, 1960, he was a space pioneer who did what no one had ever done before.
Outfitted3 in layers, upon layers, upon layers of clothing to protect him from temperatures reaching minus 70 degrees Celsius4, Kittinger rose in a gondola5 attached to a helium balloon that day in August, for an hour and half to 31,333 meters. Then he jumped. He fell continuously for four minutes and 37 seconds in what Kittinger says 'was absolutely black.'
An attached camera showed the curvature of the Earth, the emptiness of space. While falling, he felt no wind, no rush of air; then he glanced up at his balloon.
''And I said, 'My goodness, I can't believe how fast that balloon was going,' and I realized that the balloon was standing6 still and it was me that was going down at a fantastic rate. Then at about 14,000 feet my parachute opened."
He landed, eight minutes later, on target, with three world records.
"I was elated because we had accomplished7 what we set out to do, so it was a look of happiness, believe me."
John Crouch8
Author, biographer, and friend John Crouch is the curator of aeronautics9 at the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum. He says of Kittinger and his adventures: "He's still a very impressive guy. Well, there were the records, I mean it was the highest open gondola flight anybody had every made. Obviously it was the highest parachute jump anybody had ever made. It was even the longest parachute jump after the parachute opened. But it was the reason they were doing it. They were paving the wave for the space age. You know -- developing life support systems that would keep air crews alive at extreme altitudes, even in space."
Kittinger on August 16, 1960
He later became the first to solo a balloon across the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Crouch, Kittinger is an American hero. "Just one thing after another. He's a genuine American hero. I think, if anyone qualifies he does."
Joe Kittinger turns 78 this month, and is still flying and competing in ballooning events.
1 unfamiliar | |
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的 | |
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2 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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3 outfitted | |
v.装备,配置设备,供给服装( outfit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 Celsius | |
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的 | |
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5 gondola | |
n.威尼斯的平底轻舟;飞船的吊船 | |
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6 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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7 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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8 crouch | |
v.蹲伏,蜷缩,低头弯腰;n.蹲伏 | |
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9 aeronautics | |
n.航空术,航空学 | |
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