Once you've sat in the cushioned seats and have strapped yourself in (the belt across your shoulders and lap will be needed to keep you in your seat when the shuttle is in weightless space),the large ship — which will be totally controlled by an onboard computer — willfire its engines and rumble down the runway.
等到你在裝有軟墊的座位上坐好,并系好安全帶(航天飛機進人失去重力作用的外層空間后,必須有安全帶將你的肩膀和腿部固定在座位上)后,這艘大飛船——完全由機載電子計算機所控制——就會點火發動引擎,在跑道上隆隆向前駛去。
Before you notice the steadily increasing pressure of the acceleration pushing you gently back,the craft will have already lifted into the air.
沒等你留意到加速帶來的持續增強的壓力把你輕輕地往后推,飛機就已經飛上了天空。
Looking out your window, you'll see the earth rapidly falling away, and the light blue sky progressively turning blue-black. You'11 now be about 30 miles up, traveling at about 3,000mph. Within minutes, the sky will appear jet black, and only the blurred curve of the earth will be visible.Then, at perhaps 130 miles above the surface of the earth and traveling at greater than 17,000 mph, engines will shut down and — if the shuttle is in orbit withthe planet and not accelerating — you'11 become weightless.
望著窗外,你會看到地球正迅速退后,淺藍色的天空漸漸變成藍黑色?,F在你是在30英里的高度,以每小時3,000英里的速度飛行。在幾分鐘內,天空就會變得一片烏黑發亮,只有地球模糊輪廓的曲線隱約可見。隨后,在離地球表面約130英里的高度,當飛行速度超過每小時17,000英里時,引擎就會關閉——如果飛機進入圍繞地球飛行的軌道并且不再加速的話——你就處于失重狀態了。
There are some very strange effects in weightless space. At first you may feel as if you are endlessly falling; soon it will pass. You may notice, too, that the faces of your fellow passengers look swollen and puffy and that they can't keep their hair in place. Without gravity to pull down your hair and skin, your features will become distorted. It won't do any harm; it'll just look funny.
在失去重力的外層空間,有一些奇特的效應。開始時你可能覺得自己是在不停地下墜;這種感覺過一會兒就沒有了。你還會發現旅伴們的臉都顯得有點浮腫,頭發飄浮散亂。失去了把頭發和皮膚往下拉的重力作用,你的面貌就會變形。這不會帶來任何害處,只不過看上去有點怪。
Lack of gravity will also affect what you will eat. For instance, because zero gravity causes water to form round masses which are uncontrollable in confined spaces, you will not find running water anywhere on board.And you probably will also not find food that is apt to crumble for the same reason that tiny crumbs are not kept down by gravity. What you will find are liquids that can be squeezed from a tube into the mouth as well as foods that are sticky, or at least ones that stick together.
沒有重力也會影響你吃的食物。例如,由于失重狀態使得水變成一顆顆圓團,在狹窄空間里無法控制,所以你在飛機上找不到自來水。你也不太可能找到易碎食物,這同樣是因為,沒有重力,小碎屑就不會往下掉。你能得到的是可以從管子里擠到嘴里的液體,還有成粘糊狀的或至少是能粘在一起的食物。