Looking out the window, you will see the best sights of the trip. Because there is no up or down in space, earth may loom either above or below you, but in any case you'll see the blue of the oceans covered with swirls and patches or white clouds. You might even see the brown-green fabric of a continent or two. And, if the sun goes behind the earth, therewill be a billion clear, bright, non-flickering (because there is no distorting atmosphere inspace) stars.
望着窗外,你会看到此行最美丽的景致。外层空间中没有上下之分,因此地球可能在你上方,也可能在你下方,但不管怎样,你都会看到白云缭绕的蓝色海洋。你甚至还可能看到棕绿交织的一两块大陆。要是太阳转到地球另一边,就会出现千千万万颗清澈明亮,但并不闪烁的星星(因为外层空间中没有会引起失真的大气层)。
You will realize that the ship is entering the earth's outer atmosphere when, once again, you feel an invisible force pushing you back into your seat. You will still be seated as if the craft were horizontal and, in fact, it will descend in just that way. As the shuttle passes through much of the outer atmosphere, the bottom of the craft, covered with special tiles will glow red from the air friction. Then the rapid descent begins. The shuttle slows to five times the speed of sound (3,750mph).
当你再次感觉到有一股看不见的力量把你推回到座位上时,你就会意识到飞机正在进入地球的外层大气层。你仍旧坐在座位上,好像飞机是在水平飞行,事实上,飞机恰恰是要水平下降。当飞机穿过大部分外层大气层的时候,由特种绝热瓦片覆盖的飞机底部会由于空气摩擦而发出红光。接着就开始了迅速的降落。飞机把速度降到声速的五倍(每小时3,750英里)。
Meanwhile, the sky turns lighter and layers of clouds pass you like cars on a highway. Minutes later, still sitting upright, you will see the gray runway in the distance. Then the shuttle slows to 300 mph and drops its landing gear. Finally, with its nose up slightly like the Concorde SST and at a speed of about 225 mph, the shuttle will land on the asphalt runway and slowly come to a halt. The trip into space will be over.
与此同时,天色变淡,云层就像公路上行驶的汽车那样,从你身旁飘过。几分钟之后,仍然垂直坐着的你会看见远处灰色的跑道。随后飞机减速至每小时300英里,并放下起落架。最后,飞机机头略略上抬,就像协和式超音速运输机那样,以每小时大约225英里的速度降落在沥青跑道上,缓缓停下。太空之行就此结束。