Level 3 Reading 12A

Ch.23

第23章

Reading 12A DEFYING GRAVITY Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano had a terrifying experience during a spacewalk. While working on the International Space Station (ISS), his helmet began filling with water. At first, Parmitano wasn't sure what it was. "My head is really wet," he told NASA flight controllers back on Earth. As the water began to accumulate, Parmitano realized there was a problem. "It's too much . . . Now it's in my eyes," he recalls saying. Concerned that he might choke on the water, ground control stopped the spacewalk. Back inside the ISS, Parmitano took off his helmet and discovered that it contained almost half a liter of water. Where had this water come from? NASA found out that a malfunction in the suit's liquid cooling system had caused water to leak. Some of the water got into Parmitano's helmet. Though NASA has taken steps to correct the problem, the experience underscores the dangers that astronauts face each time they venture outside a spacecraft. Training for a Spacewalk Spacewalks are safer now than they were over 50 years ago, when—in 1965—Russian Alexei Leonov carried out the first one. However, as Parmitano's experience illustrates, there are still risks involved. To ensure that missions are successful, astronauts train on Earth for hundreds of hours. They learn to deal with the lack of gravity in space, for example, by floating in a large tank of water, where they experience a feeling very close to the weightlessness of space. For every hour they will walk in space, astronauts practice for 10 hours in the water. They also familiarize themselves with the exact route they will take once they leave a spacecraft. They go over this path repeatedly, so they know exactly what to do on a spacewalk. Astronauts also train for emergencies that may come about during a walk. One of the most common is losing consciousness. Although spacesuits have an internal heating and cooling system, they can still get very hot, especially when astronauts are doing physically demanding work outside the spacecraft for hours. Astronauts are trained to monitor their breathing and to make sure their bodies aren't overheating, which could cause them to pass out. Another potential challenge that astronauts are trained to deal with is being separated from a spacecraft. During a walk, astronauts work in pairs and are attached to the ISS for safety reasons. Every NASA spacesuit has a mini jetpack, and astronauts are trained to use it to float back to the station if they somehow become detached from the craft.

阅读12A 藐视重力 意大利宇航员Luca Parmitano在太空行走中经历了一次可怕的经历。 在国际空间站（ISS）工作时，他的头盔开始进水。 起初，Parmitano并不确定那是什么。 “我的头真的湿了，”他在地球上告诉美国国家航空航天局的飞行控制员。 当水开始积聚时，Parmitano意识到有问题。 “这太过分了……现在它就在我眼前，”他回忆道。 由于担心他可能会被水呛到，地面控制人员停止了太空行走。 回到国际空间站，Parmitano摘下头盔，发现里面有将近半升水。 这些水是从哪里来的？ 美国国家航空航天局发现，宇航服的液体冷却系统发生故障，导致漏水。 一些水进入了Parmitano的头盔。 尽管美国国家航空航天局已采取措施纠正这一问题， 这一经历突显了宇航员每次走出航天器时面临的危险。 太空行走训练 太空行走现在比50多年前更安全， 1965年，俄罗斯的阿列克谢·列昂诺夫进行了第一次。 然而，正如Parmitano的经验所表明的那样，仍然存在风险。 为了确保任务的成功，宇航员在地球上训练了数百小时。 例如，他们学会了如何应对太空中的重力不足， 漂浮在一个大水箱里，在那里他们体验到一种非常接近太空失重的感觉。 宇航员在太空行走的每一小时，都要在水中练习10个小时。 他们还熟悉离开航天器后将采取的确切路线。 他们反复走过这条路，所以他们确切地知道在太空行走时该做什么。 宇航员还为步行过程中可能出现的紧急情况进行训练。 其中最常见的是失去意识。 虽然宇航服有一个内部加热和冷却系统，但它们仍然会变得非常热， 尤其是当宇航员在航天器外做几个小时的体力劳动时。 宇航员经过训练，可以监测他们的呼吸，确保他们的身体不会过热， 这可能会导致它们昏倒。 宇航员接受训练以应对的另一个潜在挑战是与航天器分离。 在行走过程中，宇航员成对工作，出于安全原因被连接到国际空间站。 美国国家航空航天局的每件宇航服都有一个迷你喷气背包，宇航员经过训练，可以用它漂浮回空间站 如果它们不知怎么从飞船上脱落。

SUNITA WILLIAMS: SPACE WALKER As a child, Sunita Williams believed that space travel would be routine when she grew up—something everyone did. She never thought she'd be one of the pioneers. The former pilot has now visited the International Space Station several times, and has spent dozens of hours walking in space. What's the most impressive thing about a spacewalk? The view—being up very high looking down and seeing the northern lights below. Is it scary? On my first walk in 2006, there was a problem with a solar array (a solar panel) on the station, and we needed to fix it. A long arm connects the space station to the array. As I started going up this arm to the array, I felt like I was climbing a skyscraper. I had to tell myself, "It's okay. You're not going to fall." In space, you can get really confused sometimes. You don't know if you are going up or down, left or right. During that first walk outside the ISS, I had to remind myself how we trained in the water tank. That helped me stay calm. Are there things you do to keep yourself grounded while living in space? On my first flight, I would go down to the Russian end of the space station because there was only one bathroom at the time. Astronaut Misha Tyurin would always say, "Would you like some tea?" We would sit or float in the air for five or ten minutes drinking tea and just talk about life.

苏妮塔·威廉姆斯：太空行走者 小时候，苏妮塔·威廉姆斯认为，当她长大后，太空旅行将成为常规——每个人都会这样做。 她从未想过自己会成为先驱者之一。 这位前飞行员现在已经多次访问国际空间站， 在太空中行走了几十个小时。 太空行走最令人印象深刻的是什么？ 从高处往下看，可以看到下面的北极光。 这很可怕吗？ 2006年我第一次散步时， 空间站上的太阳能电池板出了问题，我们需要修理它。 一条长臂将空间站连接到阵列。 当我开始沿着这条手臂向阵列走去时，我感觉自己就像在爬一座摩天大楼。 我不得不告诉自己，“没关系。你不会摔倒的。” 在太空中，你有时会感到非常困惑。 你不知道你是向上还是向下，向左还是向右。 在第一次走出国际空间站时，我不得不提醒自己我们是如何在水箱里训练的。 这有助于我保持冷静。 在太空生活时，你会做些什么来让自己脚踏实地吗？ 在我的第一次飞行中，我会去空间站的俄罗斯端 因为当时只有一间浴室。 宇航员米莎·秋林总是说：“你想喝点茶吗？” 我们会坐在空中或漂浮五到十分钟，喝茶，谈论生活。

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