From the earth to the moon《从地球到月球》精讲之三

Tom Kelly: Unfortunately, moving LEM 3 to the Cape did little to ease the pressure we were under.

Jim McDivitt: Tom, there's still at least a hundred things wrong with it.

Tom Kelly: We'll get it fixed in time.

Jim McDivitt: No, you won't. There is no way in three months that thing is gonna be ready to fly.

Tom Kelly: Look, Jim, it's--It's a good machine. Just needs a little fine-tuning. That's all.

Jim McDivitt: You don't have to whisper, Tom. It can't hear you. Look, I want it to go up as much as you do. I know we're running out of time. It's 18 months to the end of the decade and we still haven't had a single manned Apollo flight. I know that. But that doesn't change the facts. LEM 3 is not ready to fly. And it won't be any time soon. That's gonna have to be my recommendation to headquarters.

Man: Now, with the LEM 3 not ready to fly after Wally and the 7 crew go up with the C.S.M. in October that means there won't be another Apollo flight until the spring, right?

Jim McDivitt: Right.

Man: Well, maybe not. George has come up with a rather wild idea.

Jim McDivitt: How wild?

Man: Frank's mission is being scrubbed. We've created a new C-Prime mission which will precede your mission.

Jim McDivitt: What's the mission?

Man: Well, we're gonna send the command and service module-- no lunar module--on a flight around the moon in December.

Jim McDivitt: Really? What's Frank think about it?

Man: I haven't talked to Frank yet. I'm talking to you first. I don't want to lose your crew's experience with LEM 3. That's why we decided to send Frank on this mission ahead of you. But I wanted to see what you had to say about it before I told Frank.

Jim McDivitt: I told him we'd stick with the mission we got.

Rusty Schweickart: Good. Going around the moon sounds like a blast and all but I really wanna fly the LEM.

Jim McDivitt: That's pretty much what Dave said. I called him in Downey. He said he really wanted to fly the command module solo--get us out of his hair for a few hours. I don't know though. Maybe we're making a mistake. Maybe we're missing out on some historical voyage.

Rusty Schweickart: I don't know, Jim. Maybe. But it sounds like they're just gonna be sightseeing. With all the things we gotta do, our mission's fun.

Jim McDivitt: Yeah, we got a great mission. Providing that thing will fly.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. LEM

即lunar excursion module，LM（lunar module）最初的名字：A spacecraft designed to transport astronauts from a command module orbiting the moon to the lunar surface and back.

2. Cape

指 Kennedy Space Center肯尼迪航天中心，在Cape Canaveral，美国弗罗里达州东部。

3. Scrub

俚语，意思是“取消，放弃”，本意是“洗，擦，擦掉”。例如：We had to scrub our plans for vacation.

4. Stick with

这个片语也写作 stick to，在口语中表示“坚持做(某事)”，例如：They stuck with us through all our difficulties.