8 Sweegling in Space

Chapter 8 SWEEGLING IN SPACE As the ship closed in, the moon just about filled the window. Its surface was silvery with millions of craters of all sizes, and dark and light patches of gray and brown. There were no other colors, but it was a beautiful thing nevertheless. Coke's and Pep's jaws dropped open as they gazed in wonder. Decades ago, it took the Apollo astronauts about three days to travel 239,000 miles to the moon. In 2006, the NASA Pluto probe took a little over eight hours to get there. Onboard the alien spacecraft, Coke and Pep had made the trip in twenty-four minutes. The moon may look like a perfect sphere from our vantage point, but it's not. As the ship got closer, the twins could see huge mountains and valleys.

当飞船靠近时，月亮几乎填满了窗户。 它的表面是银色的，有数百万个大小不一的陨石坑，还有深色和浅色的灰色和棕色斑块。 没有别的颜色了，但它仍然是一件美丽的东西。 可口可乐和佩普惊讶地瞪大了嘴巴。 几十年前，阿波罗号宇航员花了大约三天的时间旅行了23.9万英里到达月球。 2006年，美国宇航局的冥王星探测器花了8个多小时才到达那里。 在外星飞船上，可口可乐和佩普只用了24分钟就完成了这次旅行。 从我们的有利位置看，月球可能是一个完美的球体，但事实并非如此。 随着船越来越近，双胞胎可以看到巨大的山脉和山谷。

"Approaching the Sea of Clouds," said Moe. "Steady as you go." Curly and Larry busied themselves with the controls, which they carried in their clawlike hands. Coke and Pep couldn't tear their eyes away from the window. "Only a few human beings have walked on the surface," Pep mused out loud. "Twelve," Coke replied. "How do you know that?" "Doesn't everybody know that?" Coke asked, then reeled them off. "Armstrong, Aldrin, Conrad, Bean, Shepard, Mitchell, Irwin, Scott, Duke, Young, Schmitt, and Cernan." "What possible reason did you have to memorize those names?" Pep asked. "I didn't try to memorize them," Coke replied. "It just happened." The ship was slowing down. The twins could feel the weightlessness wearing off. Through the window, they could see the surface more clearly now. Some of the craters had debris around the

“快到云海了。”莫伊说。 “慢慢来。”科里和拉里忙着用爪子般的手拿着控制装置。 可口可乐和佩普的目光无法从窗户上移开。 “只有少数人在地表上行走，”佩普大声沉思着。 “12个，”可口可乐回答。“你怎么知道的？”“不是每个人都知道吗？”可口可乐问，然后一口气说了出来。 阿姆斯特朗、奥尔德林、康拉德、比恩、谢泼德、米切尔、欧文、斯科特、杜克、杨、施密特和塞尔南。 “你为什么要记住这些名字呢？”Pep问道。 “我没有试着去记住它们，”可口可乐回答说。 “就这么发生了。”船在减速。 双胞胎可以感觉到失重的感觉在逐渐消失。 透过窗户，他们现在可以更清楚地看到水面了。 一些陨石坑周围有碎片

circles that fanned out in a pattern like rays of sunlight. Something must have hit the moon hard to create those. Coke informed his sister that one crater, called Clavius, was 146 miles wide. "Prepare for landing," Moe announced. "Why are they taking us here?" Pep whispered to her brother. "Beats me." As the ship descended to the surface, Coke spotted something familiar off in the distance—a lunar module that was used by our astronauts back in the 1970s. It had four "legs" and was partly covered with gold foil that stood out from all the black and white. It looked a little bit like a spider. There was other equipment strewn near the lunar module, and an American flag sticking in the surface of the moon. "Look!" Coke said, pointing out the window. "It's the stuff left behind by one of the Apollo missions." The ship touched down with a gentle clunk

像阳光一样呈扇形散开的圆圈。 一定是有什么东西撞击月球造成了这些。 科克告诉他的妹妹，有一个名叫克拉维斯（Clavius）的陨石坑宽146英里。 “准备着陆。”莫伊宣布。 “他们为什么把我们带到这里来？”佩普低声对她哥哥说。 “难倒我了。”当飞船降落到地面时，可口可乐在远处发现了一些熟悉的东西——一个上世纪70年代宇航员使用过的登月舱。 它有四条“腿”，部分被金箔覆盖，从所有的黑色和白色中脱颖而出。 它看起来有点像蜘蛛。 登月舱附近还散落着其他设备，月球表面插着一面美国国旗。 “看!”科克指着窗外说。 “这是阿波罗任务留下的东西。” 船在一声轻微的撞击声中着陆了

and the engine vibrations suddenly stopped. For a moment, all was silent. "Flog slab," the aliens began to chant. "Flog slab. Flog slab." "Oh no," Pep groaned. "Not with the flog slab again." "Flog slab means 'golf balls,' remember?" Coke reminded her. "So what?" Pep said. "What do golf balls have to do with the moon?" Coke knew exactly what golf balls had to do with the moon. He had watched a TV documentary about it when he was in first grade. It was all because of Alan Shepard, who was the first American in space, back in 1961. A decade later, in February of 1971, he became

发动机的振动突然停止了。 一时间，一切鸦雀无声。 “鞭笞板，”外星人开始吟唱。 “鞭打板。鞭打板。”“哦，不，”佩普呻吟道。 “别再用鞭子了。” “Flog slab的意思是‘高尔夫球’，记得吗？”可乐提醒了她。 “所以什么?”Pep说。“高尔夫球和月亮有什么关系？”可口可乐很清楚高尔夫球和月亮有什么关系。 他在一年级的时候看过一个关于它的电视纪录片。 这都是因为艾伦·谢泼德，他是1961年第一个进入太空的美国人。 十年后，1971年2月，他成为了

the fifth human being to walk on the moon, as a member of Apollo 14. When the mission was nearly complete, Shepard took two golf balls he had hidden in his space suit and dropped them on the surface. He had brought along a collapsible golf club—a six iron, to be specific. He thought it would be fun to whack golf balls on the moon. Don't believe me? Look it up. That's why they invented the internet. "Alan Shepard was the first and only interplanetary golfer," Coke told his sister. "He was also the first and only interplanetary litterbug," Moe said. "What he did was disgraceful." "It was just a couple of golf balls," Coke told Moe. "What's the big deal?" "Do you think the universe is your toobleshmoot? Your garbage can?" asked Moe. "Hey, don't look at me," Coke said. "I didn't litter on the moon." "Wait a minute," Pep interrupted. "Are you

作为阿波罗14号的成员，第五个在月球上行走的人。 当任务即将完成时，谢泼德把藏在太空服里的两个高尔夫球扔到了地面上。 他带来了一根可折叠的高尔夫球杆——确切地说，是一根6号铁杆。 他认为在月球上打高尔夫球一定很有趣。 不相信我？查一下。 这就是为什么他们发明了互联网。 “艾伦·谢泼德是第一个也是唯一一个星际高尔夫球手，”科克告诉他的妹妹。 “他也是第一个也是唯一一个星际垃圾虫，”莫伊说。 “他的所作所为是可耻的。” “那只是几个高尔夫球，”科克告诉莫伊。 “这有什么大不了的？”“你认为宇宙是你的牙齿吗？” 你的垃圾桶？”莫问。 “嘿，别看我，”可口可乐说。 “我没有在月球上扔垃圾。” “等一下，”佩普打断他。 “你是

saying that you came all the way here to pick up a couple of golf balls that Alan Shepard left on the moon back in 1971?" "No," Moe told her. "I am saying that we came all the way here for you two to pick up the golf balls that Alan Shepard left on the moon back in 1971." "You gotta be kidding me," Coke said, laughing. "Sweegling in space is a serious offense!" Moe said. "I mean, littering." "But we'll die if we go out there!" Pep said, clinging to her brother. That was certainly true. Aside from the fact that there's no air to breathe on the moon, the temperature during the day can reach 250 degrees. At night, it gets down to 290 degrees below zero. Nobody could survive that. Curly and Larry came into the room with two bulky suits and helmets, not unlike the ones the Apollo astronauts had worn. "Put these on," Moe instructed the twins.

说你大老远来这里是为了捡几个1971年艾伦·谢泼德留在月球上的高尔夫球？”“不，”莫告诉她。 “我是说，我们大老远来这里是为了让你们两个捡回1971年艾伦·谢泼德留在月球上的高尔夫球。” “你在开玩笑吧，”科克笑着说。 “在太空中吐痰是严重的罪行！”莫说。 “我是说，乱扔垃圾。”“但是如果我们出去，我们会死的！”佩普说着，紧紧抓住她的弟弟。 这当然是真的。除了月球上没有空气可以呼吸之外，白天的温度可以达到250度。 到了晚上，气温会降到零下290度。 没有人能幸免。 科里和拉里带着两套笨重的宇航服和头盔走进房间，和阿波罗号宇航员戴的没什么不同。 “把这个戴上，”莫伊指示双胞胎。