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美国国家公共电台 NPR The First Men To Have The Whole World In Their Sights

时间:2018-02-06 07:10:13

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LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Solar eclipses, supermoons, a star-studded night sky - for us earthlings, looking up into space can be a transformative experience. But what about the other way around, seeing Earth from space? Only a select few have had that grand opportunity. In his new book "The Earth Gazers: On Seeing Ourselves," author Christopher Potter chronicles the men who experienced the view and how it changed them. He joins us now from our NPR studios in New York. Welcome to the program.

CHRISTOPHER POTTER: Thank you for having me.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And also with us is Major General Mike Collins. He has been to space twice. Collins was the command module1 pilot for Apollo 11. He operated the spacecraft in orbit while fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their first steps on the moon. He joins us now from his home in Marco Island, Fla. It's an honor to have you with us.

MIKE COLLINS: Hi. Nice to be here. Thank you for having me on your program.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Christopher, your book talks about this dramatic history. And there have been a lot of books written about space and this period. Why did you want to write this story? And what is the story of space for you?

POTTER: It actually came out of a sort of idle thought about, what did the earth look like from the outside? And for most of history, the outside was actually from the perspective of being dead because you got to the heavens by crossing the threshold between life and death. Then we began to think, well, actually, you could travel to out there. And then it was a question of, how are we going to do it?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Mike Collins, obviously, you were there. You've been one of the few people to have that view. Did it change you? Did you see things differently?

POTTER: Well, you know, when you are around the moon, looking back over 200,000 miles, it projected, to me at least, a feeling of fragility. And that was a surprise to me. I didn't - you know, trotting2 on the earth's surface for 39 years, I didn't think it was very fragile. But from 200,000 miles away - quite fragile. And that was my first impression. And my second was the fact that it was inhabited. But maybe we ought to come back to that later. I don't want to natter on too long.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: No, no. You can natter on.

COLLINS: OK. It was certainly, absolutely no visual certainty. But I sensed, like, little, black specks3 - not people. Or maybe it was just some aberration4, you know, little floaters in my eye. I know not what. But anyway, I was conscious of some presence there. And it was not a human presence. And I wondered, who are all those little things? What are those little things? - those little black things that are scurrying5 around? How many of them are there? Where are they going?

POTTER: Charles Lindbergh, when he first saw the Earth from above, you know, to much lower altitude in the first...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Charles Lindbergh, of course, being one of the fathers of flight.

POTTER: Yes. And he thought - you know, he was very keen on technology in those days and thought that if we could all have that experience of seeing the earth even from that height - that we would be fundamentally changed as a species.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Many astronauts have described having that view as a religious experience, as finding God. Did you feel that?

COLLINS: No. I think you take into space your religious notions, and you return with them pretty much unchanged.

POTTER: You know, an extraordinary experience was had out there in space that we don't really have the language, you know? I'm sort of trying to search for the words. I don't really want to use the word spiritual, so numinous6 is the best I can come up with. And I think in some of the ways that Mike's been talking about that experience - one could say are sort of religious.

COLLINS: Well, we were a crew of three experimental test pilots. I propose that a crew ought to be a philosopher, a priest and a poet. But they would probably be emoting and conversing7 about their newfound experiences to the extent they would forget to turn - push in certain circuit breakers. And they would be destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. So where are we in that panoply8? I know not.

POTTER: I very much enjoyed your idea of that alternative crew, though I sort of wonder whether those people you cite actually are better at asking questions than they are at answering them.

COLLINS: Yeah. Well, you know, we're discussing this like it's all over and done with, and these conclusions may or may not have ensued. But, gee9, we're just getting started. I mean, wait until we start sending people back to the moon. Maybe you will get a philosopher, a priest and a poet onto Mars. That's going to be even more extraordinary and, perhaps, the reactions of people who see the Earth not as something the size of your thumbnail but something you can't even find. It looks like a bright star out there. Then maybe you will get a different reaction and answers to some of the things you're looking for.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Major General Michael Collins of the Apollo 11 moon mission - also author Christopher Potter - his new book is called "The Earth Gazers." Thank you to you both.

POTTER: Thank you very much.

COLLINS: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF AT THE END OF TIMES, NOTHING'S "RAVELLING")


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1 module iEjxj     
n.组件,模块,模件;(航天器的)舱
参考例句:
  • The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
  • Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。
2 trotting cbfe4f2086fbf0d567ffdf135320f26a     
小跑,急走( trot的现在分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
  • Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳,小马开始慢跑起来。
3 specks 6d64faf449275b5ce146fe2c78100fed     
n.眼镜;斑点,微粒,污点( speck的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Minutes later Brown spotted two specks in the ocean. 几分钟后布朗发现海洋中有两个小点。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
  • Do you ever seem to see specks in front of your eyes? 你眼睛前面曾似乎看见过小点吗? 来自辞典例句
4 aberration EVOzr     
n.离开正路,脱离常规,色差
参考例句:
  • The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
  • Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱,他把自己的名字忘了。
5 scurrying 294847ddc818208bf7d590895cd0b7c9     
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句
6 numinous LHWxJ     
adj.庄严的,神圣的
参考例句:
  • They led me to a numinous place that day.那天他们领着我去了一个神秘的地方。
  • Ms Rowling's magic world has no place for the numinous.罗琳笔下的魔法世界里,没有神秘主义的立足之地。
7 conversing 20d0ea6fb9188abfa59f3db682925246     
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
8 panoply kKcxM     
n.全副甲胄,礼服
参考例句:
  • But all they had added was the trappings and panoply of applied science.但是他们所增添的一切,不过是实用科学的装饰和甲胄罢了。
  • The lakes were surrounded By a panoply of mountains.群湖为壮丽的群山所环抱。
9 gee ZsfzIu     
n.马;int.向右!前进!,惊讶时所发声音;v.向右转
参考例句:
  • Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
  • Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇!我们会赚好多钱啦!

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