在手机上保存，获得更好体验
Who Was Neil Armstrong?
谁是尼尔·阿姆斯特朗
翻译：Catrina Chiang
校对：Larry
朗读者：Tina
It is July 16, 1969. By 9 A.M. the temperature hits a whopping ninety degrees. That's just a typical summer morning in central Florida. The heat does not stop a crowd of a million people from coming as close to Cape Kennedy as they can get. That is where the United States will launch a spacecraft in just a little while. Carloads of people line the roads for miles. Hundreds of boats bob in the waters just offshore. The beaches swarm with people. Everyone hopes to get a glimpse of the Apollo 11 spacecraft as it soars off into the heavens.
这是1969年7月16日，刚到上午9点，气温已经高达90华氏度（译者注：约等于32摄氏度）。这是佛罗里达中部一个平常的夏日清晨。但酷暑也阻挡无法百万民众尽其所能地靠近肯尼迪角。美国将在不久后，从这里发射一艘宇宙飞船。一辆辆小车载满了乘客，沿着街道排出了好几英里远；离岸不远的水中，数百只小船随波起伏；沙滩上也是挤满了人。每个人都希望亲眼目睹阿波罗11号飞船升腾而起、刺破苍穹的时刻。
Two thousand reporters are in the press area, ready to write headline stories for their newspapers. In special stands nearest to the launchpad at Cape Kennedy are many members of Congress, the U.S. vice president, and many famous names in show business and sports.
媒体区足足有两千名记者，准备就绪，要为各自的报纸撰写头条新闻。距离肯尼迪角发射台最近的专用看台上，站着众多国会议员、美国副总统，还有许多娱乐圈和体育界中有头有脸的人物。
Among all these important people are two young boys, twelve-year-old Rick and six-year-old Mark Armstrong. They stand close to their mother, Janet, who looks as nervous and excited as they do.
在这些重要人物中间，有两个小男孩——十二岁的瑞克和六岁的马克·阿姆斯特朗；他们紧贴母亲珍妮特站着，珍妮特和他们一样，神态既紧张又激动。
Like everyone else, the boys are watching the giant needlelike rocket. It stands thirty stories high.
跟其他所有人一样，两个男孩注视着那艘形如针状的巨大火箭。这火箭兀然矗立，足有三十层楼高。
At the very top is a space capsule; three astronauts are inside. One of them is the boys'father. His name is Neil Armstrong. He is the commander of this space mission-- Apollo 11. And if all goes well, in four days he will become the first person to set foot on the moon… but that is a big if. No spacecraft has ever tried to land on the moon before. What if Apollo 11 makes it to the moon but then can't get back to Earth?… So many things could go wrong.
火箭最顶部是太空舱，里面有三名宇航员。其中一名就是男孩们的父亲，名叫尼尔·阿姆斯特朗。他是此次太空任务——阿波罗11号的指挥员。如果一切顺利，四天后他将成为第一个登上月球的人……但这是一个巨大的“如果”。在此之前，从来没有太空飞船尝试过登陆月球。如果阿波罗11号成功抵达月球，但它无法重返地球，那该怎么办呢？……所以可能会出问题的地方太多了。
Apollo 11 may either make history or end in tragedy.
阿波罗11号要么创造历史，要么以悲剧告终。
