万物简史 第394期:浩瀚的海洋(13)

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　　The nation, moreover, was about to become fully² preoccupied³ with space travel and the quest to send a man to the Moon, 而且，当时这个国家就要全力以赴地搞空间旅行，努力把人送上月球。

　　which made deep sea investigations⁴ seem unimportant and rather old-fashioned. 因此，深海调查似乎变得不大重要，已经过时。

　　But the decisive consideration was that the Trieste descent didn't actually achieve much. 但是，最决定性的看法是，“的里雅斯特”号其实没有取得多大成就。

　　As a Navy official explained years later: "We didn't learn a hell of a lot from it, other than that we could do it. Why do it again?" 正如几年以后一位海军官员说的：“我们只是知道了我们办得到，除此以外没有了解到多少该死的东西。干吗还要干？”

　　It was, in short, a long way to go to find a flatfish, and expensive too. 总而言之，寻找比目鱼的路程很远，而旦很花钱。

　　Repeating the exercise today, it has been estimated, would cost at least $100 million. 有人估计，今天要再干一回，至少要花费1亿美元。

　　When underwater researchers realized that the Navy had no intention of pursuing a promised exploration program, there was a pained outcry. 当水下研究人员获悉海军无意实施答应过的探索计划的时候，他们痛苦万分，表示强烈抗议。

　　Partly to placate⁵ its critics, the Navy provided funding for a more advanced submersible, 为了平息他们的不满，海军提供了一笔资金，计划建造一个更加先进的潜水器，

　　to be operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Massachusetts. 由马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所进行管理。

　　Called Alvin, in somewhat contracted honor of the oceanographer Allyn C. Vine, 它被命名为“阿尔文”号，以纪念海样学家阿林·C·瓦因。

　　it would be a fully maneuverable minisubmarine, though it wouldn't go anywhere near as deep as the Trieste. 它将是一条操作灵活的微型潜艇，虽然它根本潜不到“的里雅斯特”号的深度。

　　There was just one problem: the designers couldn't find anyone willing to build it. 只有一个问题：设计人员找不到愿意制造它的人。

　　According to William J. Broad in The Universe Below: 威廉·J·布罗德在《水下的字窗》一书中说：

　　"No big company like General Dynamics⁶, which made submarines for the Navy, “没有哪家大公司，包括为海军生产潜艇的通用动力公司，

　　wanted to take on a project disparaged⁷ by both the Bureau of Ships and Admiral Rickover, the gods of naval⁸ patronage⁹." 愿意接受一个被船舶局和里科弗将军都瞧不起的项目。”

　　Eventually, not to say improbably, 最后，简直不可思议，

　　Alvin was constructed by General Mills, the food company, at a factory where it made the machines to produce breakfast cereals. “阿尔文”号由通用面输公司在下属的一家生产早餐食品机器的工厂建造。

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