神秘的月球 第5期

 　　When the images were transmitted back to earth they had their answer.

　　影像回传至地球时，谜底终于揭晓

　　The far side was actually just the same as the near side.

　　月球的背面其实和正面没什么不同

　　But the lack of surprises didn't matter

　　结果虽然平淡无奇，但并不打紧

　　these blurred¹ images made history.

　　这些模糊的影像开启历史的新页

　　And the mission consolidated² the Russians' lead in the space race.

　　也巩固了苏联在太空竞赛中的领先地位

　　The Americans weren't keen on second place.

　　美国人对亚军宝座兴趣缺缺

　　I guess the American people are alarmed that a foreign country,

　　我想美国人民担忧的是外国…尤其是敌对国家

　　especially an enemy country can do this, it, we fear this.

　　具备这样的能力，这让我们很害怕

　　Definitely not admire.

　　绝对令人担忧

　　Do you admire the Russians for doing it or not?

　　你佩服苏联人的成就吗？

　　No, definitely not,

　　绝对不会

　　I said we should have been the first ones to have it.

　　应该由我们拔得头筹才对

　　The Russians had all the headlines,

　　苏联人在媒体上占尽了风头

　　but landing a man on the moon was an entirely³ new challenge.

　　但是让人类登陆月球是全新的挑战

　　甘迺迪发表他那篇著名演说的时候

　　scientists knew so little about the moon

　　科学家对月球的了解乏善可陈

　　that the prospect⁴ of sending a human there

　　所以这篇登月宣言

　　seemed almost reckless.

　　听来几近蛮勇

　　Their knowledge of lunar geography was so sketchy⁵

　　他们对月球地理的了解极其粗略

　　they didn't know where they could land safely.

　　连可以在哪里安全着陆都不知道

　　They didn't even know whether the moon's surface

　　他们甚至无法断言，月球表面

　　was strong enough to support the weight of a space-craft,

　　是否足以支撑太空船

　　or even a man.

　　甚至是一个人的重量

　　They needed answers quickly.

　　他们必须快马加鞭地找出答案

　　The first step for the Americans

　　美国人的第一步

　　was a series of probes called Ranger⁶.

　　是发射了一系列被称为“突击者”的探测器

　　They carried on board television cameras to take

　　探测器上装载着电视摄影机

　　detailed⁷ close up pictures of the lunar surface.

　　以钜细靡遗地近距离拍摄月球表面

　　But it wasn't exactly a sophisticated approach.

　　他们的做法听似精密实则不然

　　The Rangers⁸ went in hard,

　　突击者探测器像神风特攻队般地

　　crashing kamikaze style into the moon's surface,

　　朝着月球表面猛冲不断拍摄

　　furiously filming away until the moment of destruction.

　　直到撞毁为止

　　The 4300 images taken by the Ranger probes

　　突击者探测器拍到的4300张照片

　　were the clearest views we'd ever had of our moon.

　　让我们看清了月球的真面目

　　It was now clear it was a harsh and hostile world.

　　那显然是个严酷、恶劣的世界

　　But the pictures were vital to prepare for the ultimate goal

　　但这些照片对达成登月目标而言

　　the moon landing.

　　非常重要

　　It was an epic⁹ endeavour no expense was spared.

　　这是一项史诗壮举，美国政府一掷千金

　　At its peak, the moon

　　登月计划在到达巅峰时

　　programme employed more than 400,000 people in America.

　　曾经在美国雇用了40多万人

　　And cost over 25 billion dollars nearly 150 billion in today's money.

　　耗资超过250亿美元，相当于今天的1500亿

　　People were electrified¹⁰ by the race to the moon.

　　登月竞赛让人们振奋不已

　　And you know,

　　我记得

　　the United States was spending I think it

　　美国为了这个计划

　　was 4.5% of our entire national budget on space

　　花费了全国预算的4.5%

　　but um most Americans were 100% in favour of let's push on

　　但是多数美国民众都百分之百支持登月计划

　　and whatever it costs, let's get to the moon.

　　只要能登陆月球花再多钱都可以

　　10, 9...

　　10、9…

　　By 1968 NASA was ready for a test run.

　　1968年，美国航太总署准备展开测试任务

　　4, 3, 2, 1, zero.

　　4、3、2、1、0

　　We have connect, we have, we have lift off.

　　衔接成功，我们升空了

　　Lift off at 7:51 am eastern standard time.

　　升空时间为东部标准时间早上7点51分

　　Apollo 8 wouldn't actually land on the moon,

　　阿波罗八号虽然不会登陆月球

　　but it would go into lunar orbit.

　　但是会进入月球轨道

　　Although they weren't going to touch down

　　虽然这次没有着陆

　　this would be the first time

　　但这是人类首度

　　that humans had ever visited another world.

　　造访别的世界

1 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

6 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

10 electrified   

v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
• The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》