Once we have all the structural materials that the Moon will supply, we can build large space stations in which people can live. We can build doughnuts (环状物)of steel and glass and aluminum or spheres, or cylinders (圆柱状物).We can coat them with soil on the inside and set them turning. This will produce a centrifugal force (离心力)which will act like an imitation (仿制的)gravity. The inside will be lit by sunlight and powered by solar energy. Shuttles can produce day and night and the soil can be made into an earth home. Thousands of people can live in these space settlements.
月球一旦能向我们提供所需要的这些建筑材料,我们就可以建造供人居住的大型太空站。我们能够制造钢质的、玻璃的、铝质的圆圈形建筑,或者是圆球形或圆筒形建筑物。我们可以在其内壁上盖一层泥土,并使之转动。这就产生了一股离心力,其作用就是模拟地球引力。太空站内有阳光照明,由太阳能提供动力。航天飞机能产生白昼与黑夜的效果,用泥土可以盖建地球上的房屋。成千上万的人都可以在这些太空居民点内生活。
If human beings wish to invest the time, money, and effort, all of this can be done in about fifty years, and many people your age will be part of it. Yours will be the first generation of space. People your age now will grow up to be engineers and construction workers in space. They will work in the observatories and laboratories. They will be part of the lunar (月球的)mining stations, and they will smelt (熔炼)minerals in space. They will maintain the power stations and factories, and they will live in the space settlements for months at a time — maybe all their lives.
假如人类愿意投入时间、钱财与精力,所有这一切大约能在50年内予以实现,你们这样年纪的人,很多会直接参与其事。你们这一代将是第一代太空人。你们的同龄人长大后,会成为太空工程师和太空建筑工人,在观察站和实验室工作。他们会是月球采矿站的一个部分,在太空熔炼矿石。他们将维持发电站和工厂的生产,每次在太空居民点待上几个月——也许待上一辈子。
You may be on the first team to mine the moon, and your son or daughter may be on the first crew to land on an asteroid (小行星)or on one of the outer moons of Jupiter.
你也许是第一支月球采矿队的成员,而你的儿女可能是率先登上某个小行星的,或是率先登上木星外围某个月球的第一批工作队员。
What an exciting future is ahead, if we have the courage to pass through the doorway into space that the Shuttle has opened for us.
如果我们有勇气闯过航天飞机为我们敞开的太空之门,进入太空,那么出现在我们面前的,是一幅多么激动人心的情景!