在美國“奮進”號航天飛機成功完成與國際空間站的對接后,11位宇航員在安裝新倉的間隙舉辦了一場“太空冬奧會”,而價值1000億美元的空間站就是他們的運動場地。不過,跟正在進行中的溫哥華冬奧會不同的是,他們的比賽場地沒有冰,也沒有雪,花樣滑冰、滑雪等比賽項目全部都是在太空零重力的環境下完成的。宇航員們還將他們比賽的視頻發送到地面指揮中心,并表示一直都在關注溫哥華冬奧會。
An international team of astronauts held their own weightless Winter Olympics this week. Their venue: a $100 billion space station. |
They don't have snow or ice, but an international team of astronauts held their own weightless Winter Olympics this week. Their venue: a $100 billion space station.
The 11 astronauts aboard the linked shuttle Endeavour and International Space Station (ISS) tried their hand at several space Winter Olympics events this week during breaks from adding a new room and observation deck to the outpost.
Their events? Space skiing, the zero-G luge and a graceful weightless figure skating. The crew beamed some space sports video of their antics to Mission Control.
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, a space station resident, even donned a pair of short space skis for his slalom and jump events.
"I did send out my ski jump on ISS," Noguchi told reporters in Japan late Thursday.
Endeavour shuttle pilot Terry Virts took a shot at the luge, floating down a space station module feet first. His crewmate Kathryn "Kay" Hire twirled endlessly in what the spaceflyers called the ultimate "figure skating triple-lindys."
Virts said he and his crewmates have enjoyed looking down at Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing.
"We've been having some really nice night passes over the Olympics," Virts radioed Mission Control early Friday.
They also squeezed in some zero gravity diving — basically somersaulting while floating in place — though admittedly they should probably save that for the Summer Olympics, the astronauts said.
And like the Olympics, the shuttle and station astronauts even have a special emblem. But instead of five interlocked rings, they have mission patches emblazoned on their space clothes and equipment.
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(Agencies)
(中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯)