A Mission of the Mind 意志的考验
Six Astronauts Are Tested to the Limit 对6名宇航员的极限考验
Have you ever been on a long-haul flight? How did you pass the time? Perhaps you watched an in-flight movie or read a book.
Well it would have to be a very long book to keep you amused for 520 days. That's how long six men are going to be sealed away from humanity in a warehouse in the suburbs of Moscow from tomorrow.
No, this isn't another weird reality TV show, but an experiment from the European Space Agency and Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems to test the psychological impact of a manned mission to Mars.
The six astronauts will live in conditions approximating a real space mission. A 550-cubic-metre mock-up within the warehouse includes an interplanetary spaceship, a Mars lander and a Martian landscape.
The group of six - which includes one Chinese astronaut, Wang Yue - will work, relax and sleep in eight-hour shifts, take two days off a week and shower once every ten days.
All communication with mission control will be subject to a twenty-minute delay to reproduce the effects of distance.
After 250 days, the astronauts will divide into two groups. Three will move to the Martian surface simulator for a month while the rest will remain 'in orbit'. Then the six will be reunited for a 240-day return journey to... well, the outside world.
Throughout, the organisers of the project will use cameras to monitor everything that happens 'on board'. They will gather new information about personal stress levels, emotional well-being and group dynamics.
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a scientist with the satellite manufacturer EADS Astrium, believes that the experiment will be extremely valuable. However, she points out that without the glory of being the first humans to visit the Red Planet, it could be hard for these pioneers to maintain motivation.
"It's far less likely this would be a problem if you really were going to Mars", she says. "But the danger is that because you know you're really in a hangar in Moscow, you start thinking: 'I can't be bothered'."
你有没有经历过长途飞行呢?那么,你是怎么打发时间的呢?或许你观看机上电影或者读书。
如果要飞行520天,那么你读的一定是一本非常非常厚的书。从明天开始,6人即将开始被封入莫斯科郊区的仓库,进行与人类隔绝的生活,时间就是520天。
不,这不是另外一场怪异的真人秀,而是欧洲航天局(European Space Agency)和俄罗斯科学院生物医学问题研究所(Institute of Bio-Medical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences,IBMP)进行的一项实验,目的是测验登陆火星项目的心理影响。
这6名宇航员将在接近真实太空任务的环境中生活。该仓库内550立方米的模拟空间包括一个星际宇宙飞船,一个火星着陆舱和火星风景。
这6名志愿者——其中包括中国宇航员王跃——将按照八小时轮班进行工作,放松,睡觉。每周休息两天,每十天进行一次淋浴。
与指挥中心的所有联系都会延迟20分钟,模拟距离的影响。
250天后,这些宇航员将被分为两组。其中三人将前往火星表面模拟器逗留一个月的时间,其他人仍然留在“轨道”上。随后,6人将再次回合,进行240天的返航旅程,回到外界。
整个过程期间,该项目的组织者将使用摄像机来监视“宇宙飞船”上发生的一切活动。他们将收集关于人类压力水平,情感健康状况和团体动态等方面新的信息。
卫星制造商EADS Astrium的科学家Maggie Aderin-Pocock博士相信该实验将非常有价值。然而,她指出,如果不能成为登陆“红色星球”的首批人类,这些先驱者将失去动力。
“如果真的能够前往火星,这些问题都将不是问题。但是存在的危险是,因为你知道自己是在莫斯科的飞机棚中,你就会开始想‘我不会感到厌烦的。’”
1.amuse v.使消遣, 娱乐
例句:How do you amuse yourself in rainy weather?
你在雨天怎样消遣?
2.warehouse n.仓库, 货栈
例句:Their furniture will stay in the warehouse until they have paid the storage fee.
他们要等交了保管费之后才能把家具搬出货栈。
3.suburb n.郊区, 城郊
例句:Blackheath is a suburb of London.
布莱克西斯是伦敦的一个郊区。
They decided to move out to the suburbs.
他们决定搬到郊外去。
4.weird adj.怪诞的; 神秘而可怕的; 超然的
例句:It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans.
这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅, 到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。
古怪的; 离奇的
例句:She has some weird ideas.
她有一些怪念头。
5.approximate vt.vi.近似, 接近
例句:Your story approximates to the real facts.
你所说的仅仅是接近事实真相。
His income approximated 8000 dollars a year.
他的年收入近8000美元。
6.interplanetary adj.行星之间的,行星际的
例句:interplanetary navigation
星际导航
7.reunite vt.vi.(使某人或某物)再次联合, 重聚
例句:She is trying her best to reunite with her father.
她想方设法与父亲团聚。
8.dynamics n.动态
1.How did you pass the time?
pass the time打发时间,消磨时间
2.Well it would have to be a very long book to keep you amused for 520 days.
would have to be情态动词表示猜测。其他可以用来表示猜测的情态动词还有:can(及其否定形式 can't),could(及其形式couldn't),may,might,must
3.That's how long six men are going to be sealed away from humanity in a warehouse in the suburbs of Moscow from tomorrow.
seal away from隔离,隔绝
4.All communication with mission control will be subject to a twenty-minute delay to reproduce the effects of distance.
be subject to经受,遭受
例句:The prices are subject to change.
价格可能有变动。
These arrangements are subject to periodic review.
这几项安排每隔一定时间须予复查。
5. she points out that without the glory of being the first humans to visit the Red Planet, it could be hard for these pioneers to maintain motivation.
without虚拟条件
非真实条件句中的条件从句有时不表示出来,只暗含在短语或上下文中,这种句子叫做储蓄条件句。常见的有but,for ,without等引导的短语,以及or, or else, otherwise, but,were it not for 等后面的分句。
例:But for your help we couldn’t have succeeded in the experiment.
如果没有你的帮助,我们的实验室是不会成功的。
例:We could have done better under more favourable conditions.
在更有利的条件下,我们能够做得更好些。