By 1953, both the United States and the Soviet Union had detonated atomic bombs made of hydrogen.
1953年,美国和苏联都引爆了氢弹
In 1957 the Soviets came up with the ICBM, or Intercontinental Ballistic Missile,
1957年,苏联发明了洲际弹道导弹
which made possible the concept of "anytime, anywhere" nuclear war and also MAD, "mutually assured destruction."
使得任何时候任何地点的核战成为可能,也使得MAD,即相互保证毁灭成为可能
Kennedy and Khrushchev both knew in October 1962 the magnitude of the stakes, it was literally, the fate of life on this planet.
1962年10月,肯尼迪和赫鲁晓夫都知道这个赌注的重要性,严格说来,牵涉到这个星球上所有生命的命运
Both sides worked feverishly to refine missile technology with multi-warhead and various mid-range missiles.
双方都狂热地优化自己的导弹技术,制造出多弹头导弹和各种中射程导弹
Both sides also pumped huge amounts of money into the space race,
双方也都斥巨资投入太空竞赛
which despite each nation's patriotic pride in its achievements was essentially basically another branch of the arms race.
尽管双方都因各自的成就得到爱国自豪感,这基本上就是军备竞赛的一个分支
In the long run, only the United States was able to afford such a level of military spending and that, just barely.
长期看来,只有美国能够负担得起这种程度的军费开支,也只是勉强能够负担而已
Segment 28e: Conclusions
28段第五部分,结论
1. It's tough to let go
第一,放手很难