Lesson 35

Space odyssey

The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System, supplying the rocket fuels for its ships, easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the form of liquid oxygen.
月球很可能成为太阳系的工业中心，为其飞船供应从月球岩石中以液氧形式容易获得的火箭燃料。
The reason lies in its gravity.
这个原因在于其重力。
Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth's mass, it requires 97 per cent less energy to travel the quarter of a million miles from the Moon to Earth-orbit than the 200 mile-journey from Earth's surface into orbit!
因为月球的质量仅为地球的八十分之一，所以从月球旅行25万英里到地球轨道所需的能量，比从地球表面进入轨道所需的200英里旅程的能量要少97%！
This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated.
这听起来可能很奇妙，但它很容易计算出来。
To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second.
为了乘火箭逃离地球，一个人必须以每秒七英里的速度旅行。
The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second.
来自月球的可比速度仅仅是每秒1.5英里。
Because the gravity on the Moon's surface is only a sixth of Earth's (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along), it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5 miles per second than it does on Earth.
因为月球表面的重力仅为地球的六分之一（记住阿波罗宇航员是如何轻松跳跃的），所以加速到每秒1.5英里所需的能量比在地球上要少得多。
Moon-dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three per cent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.
月球居民在太空中飞行的成本仅为他们地球表亲进行类似旅程成本的百分之三。
Arthur C. Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:
亚瑟·C·克拉克曾经提出一个革命性的想法会经历三个阶段：
It's impossible—don't waste my time.
它是不可能的—不要浪费我的时间。
It's possible, but not worth doing.
它是可能的，但并不值得去做。
I said it was a good idea all along.
我说它一直以来都是个好主意。
The idea of colonising Mars — a world 160 times more distant than the Moon — will move decisively from the second phase to the third, when a significant number of people are living permanently in space.
殖民火星（一个比月球远160倍的世界）的想法，当相当数量的人在太空中永久居住时，将果断地从第二阶段进入第三阶段。
Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers.
火星对于潜在的航行者有着非凡的魅力。
America, Russia and Europe are filled with enthusiasts — many of them serious and senior scientists — who dream of sending people to it.
美国、俄罗斯和欧洲充满了狂热者——他们中许多人是严肃且资深的科学家——他们梦想着将人们送往那里。
Their aim is understandable.
他们的目标是可以理解的。
It is the one world in the Solar System that is most like the Earth.
它是太阳系中唯一最像地球的世界。
It is a world of red sandy deserts (hence its name — the Red Planet), cloudless skies, savage sandstorms, chasms wider than the Grand Canyon and at least one mountain more than twice as tall as Everest.
这是一个由红色沙质沙漠（因此得名——红色星球）、无云天空、狂暴沙尘暴、比大峡谷更宽的裂谷以及至少一座比珠穆朗玛峰高出两倍多的山脉组成的世界。
It seems ideal for settlement.
它似乎适合定居。