第35课

旁白 neutral

The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System supplying the rocket fuels for its ships,

月球很可能成为太阳系的工业中心，为其飞船提供火箭燃料，

旁白 neutral

easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the form of liquid oxygen.

这些燃料以液氧的形式，可轻易地从月球岩石中获得。

旁白 neutral

The reason lies in its gravity.

原因在于它的重力。

旁白 neutral

Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth's mass,

因为月球的质量只有地球的八十分之一，

旁白 neutral

it requires 97% less energy

它所需的能量要少97%，

旁白 neutral

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!

即使是从月球到地球轨道25万英里的旅程，也比从地球表面进入轨道200英里的旅程所需的能量少得多！

旁白 neutral

This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated.

这听起来可能很不可思议，但它很容易计算出来。

旁白 neutral

To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second.

要乘坐火箭逃离地球，必须以每秒7英里的速度飞行。

旁白 neutral

The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second.

而从月球逃离的可比速度仅为每秒1.5英里。

旁白 neutral

Because the gravity on the Moon's surface is only a sixth of Earth's (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along),

因为月球表面的重力只有地球的六分之一（还记得阿波罗宇航员在月球上跳跃得多轻松吗？），

旁白 neutral

it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5mps than it does on Earth.

因此，在月球上加速到每秒1.5英里所需的能量比在地球上少得多。

旁白 neutral

Moon dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three percent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.

月球居民将能够以其地球表亲进行类似旅程所需成本的3%在太空中飞行。

旁白 neutral

Arthur C.Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:

亚瑟·C·克拉克曾提出，一个革命性的想法会经历三个阶段：

旁白 neutral

1. 'It's impossible--don't waste my time.'

1. “这不可能——别浪费我的时间。”

旁白 neutral

2. 'It's possible, but not worth doing.'

2. “这有可能，但不值得做。”

旁白 neutral

3. 'I said it was a good idea all along.'

3. “我一直都说这是个好主意。”

旁白 neutral

The idea of colonising Mars--a world 160 times more distant than the Moon--will move decisively from the second phase to the third,

殖民火星——一个比月球远160倍的世界——的设想，将决定性地从第二阶段迈向第三阶段，

旁白 neutral

when a significant number of people are living permanently in space.

那将是当大量人口永久居住在太空中的时候。

旁白 neutral

Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers.

火星对未来的航海家们有着非凡的吸引力。

旁白 neutral

America, Russia and Europe are filled with enthusiasts--many of them serious and senior scientists who dream of sending people to it.

美国、俄罗斯和欧洲都充满了热情的人士——其中许多是认真而资深的科学家，他们梦想着将人类送上火星。

旁白 neutral

Their aim is understandable.

他们的目标是可以理解的。

旁白 neutral

It is the one world in the Solar System that is most like the Earth.

它是太阳系中与地球最相似的星球。

旁白 neutral

It is a world of red sandy deserts (hence its name--the Red Planet),

这是一个红色的沙质沙漠世界（因此得名——红色星球），

旁白 neutral

cloudless skies, savage sandstorms, chasms wider than the Grand Canyon and at least one mountain more than twice as tall as Everest.

有着无云的天空、狂暴的沙尘暴、比大峡谷还宽的裂谷，以及至少一座比珠穆朗玛峰高两倍多的山峰。

旁白 neutral

It seems ideal for settlement.

它似乎非常适合居住。