谁想成为一名宇航员?

What Is It Like to Become an Astronaut? 谁想成为一名宇航员?

HOUSTON, TEXAS—

Colonel Terry Virts always knew he wanted to be a pilot or an astronaut.

He had pictures of galaxies¹ and planes on his walls as a child. He never thought he could actually become an astronaut, but he did the things he had to do to qualify. He got a mathematics degree, went into the Air Force, and eventually became a test pilot. In 2000, he was accepted to the astronaut candidate program.

As an active astronaut with the U.S. Space Program -- the National Aeronautics² and Space Administration -- Virts has one of the most demanding jobs in the world. He has flown the space shuttle, conducted spacewalks, and was the commander of the International Space Station in spring 2015.

'Excited beyond belief'

Upon being selected for the astronaut program, “I was excited beyond belief. This is my boyhood dream, and I finally made it happen," Virts said.

"The initial training was fun. It was something different every day. As a pilot I had to learn how to fly the space shuttle, for launch and landing, and rendezvous³, and all the piloting tasks," he added.

Virts received training in medicine, science and the Russian language. And he learned how to repair and maintain the International Space Station. Eventually he was taught how to walk in space.

His first trip to space was in 2010, when he piloted the shuttle Endeavor.

“The first space flight is amazing. First of all, walking out to the space shuttle is an amazing experience," he said. "I’ve never been so proud of being an American because I know Americans have built that. ... It was the most amazing flying machine ever built, and I got to fly it as pilot. It was awesome⁴.”

Four years later, Virts returned to space as flight engineer of the International Space Station, later assuming command. That mission lasted 200 days, during which he conducted three spacewalks, totaling almost 20 hours.

“There’s nothing like spacewalking. It’s a very unique experience," he said.

"You’re in this very heavy, very stiff spacesuit that’s basically a space ship. It has its own oxygen and carbon dioxide systems, a cooling system, communication, has a jet pack. It’s a small spaceship. Except for there’s a one-milimeter-thin plastic glass, and on the other side of that is space. You almost felt like you can see or hear God out there. It’s really an awesome experience," he said.

Photographs from space

Virts said one of his favorite things to do in space is to take photographs. He has shared hundreds of pictures of our planet on Twitter.

“It’s just beautiful. You feel like you’re seeing the heavens and earth. Your home planet is over there, and you’re over here. It’s a surreal, emotional experience, and so the little silly things you watch on the news every night just don’t matter. They are just not a big deal. So, from that point of view, your perspective changes," he remembered.

Virts said every astronaut’s favorite mission is the next one. He is waiting his turn to go back to space.

1 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

2 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

3 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

4 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.