Space Men
Narrator: : In the spring of 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Association, NASA, introduced Americans to a new kind of hero -- the astronaut.
旁白： 1959年春天，美国国家航空航天协会（NASA）向美国人介绍了一种新的英雄——宇航员。
Known as the Mercury 7, their mission was to rocket beyond the earth's atmosphere, and they quickly became a national sensation.
他们被称为水星 7 号，其任务是飞出地球大气层，很快就引起了全国轰动。
In the months that followed their faces blanketed the news, as the country waited to see who would become the first man in space.
在接下来的几个月里，他们的面孔成为了新闻的焦点，整个国家都在等待谁将成为太空第一人。
But far from the Project Mercury spotlight, deep in the New Mexico desert, the Air Force was also preparing to launch a man towards the heavens.
但在远离水星计划聚光灯的地方，在新墨西哥州沙漠深处，空军也准备将一名男子送上天空。
With a fraction of NASA's budget and none of its renown, Project Excelsior was about to send Captain Joseph Kittinger 100,000 feet above the Earth, and he would get there not by rocket, but by balloon.
精益求精计划的预算只占 NASA 的一小部分，而且名声也没有那么响亮，它准备将约瑟夫·基廷格 (Joseph Kittinger) 上尉送到地球上空 100,000 英尺的高度，而他不是乘坐火箭，而是乘坐气球到达那里。
It was the culmination of over a decade of little-known aerospace experiments, and this would be the most dangerous of them all.
这是十多年来鲜为人知的航天实验的顶峰，而这将是其中最危险的一次。
Craig Ryan, Writer,: : There were a myriad of problems with sending a person up to that altitude.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：：将人送到那个高度会遇到很多问题。
Could you keep them warm?
你能为他们保暖吗？
Would they be exposed to dangerous radiation?
他们会受到危险的辐射吗？
How do you give them a safe breathable atmosphere?
如何给他们一个安全透气的氛围？
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : Above 60,000 feet, you've got so little pressure that your blood can boil.
布克哈德·比尔格 (Burkhard Bilger)，作家： 在 60,000 英尺以上的高度，压力极小，以至于你的血液会沸腾。
Organs can rupture, blood vessels can rupture.
器官可以破裂，血管可以破裂。
The temperature is a hundred degrees below zero.
温度低于零下一百度。
There are just so many things that can wrong.
有很多事情可能会出错。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : At 100,000 feet you're above 99 percent of the earth's atmosphere, so you might as well be in space.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪 (Gregory Kennedy)：：在 100,000 英尺的高度，地球大气层 99% 的面积都在上面，所以你就像在太空中一样。
Narrator: : Though largely forgotten, balloonists would be the first to venture into the frozen vacuum on the edge of our world, exploring the very limits of human physiology and human ingenuity in this deadly realm.
旁白：虽然基本上被遗忘了，但气球驾驶员将是第一个冒险进入我们世界边缘的冰冻真空的人，在这个致命的领域探索人类生理学和人类创造力的极限。
Ken Hollings, Writer: : Flying in a balloon to the upper reaches of the atmosphere, perhaps seems odd, eccentric, even self-inflicted madness.
肯·霍林斯（Ken Hollings），编剧： 乘坐气球飞向大气层的上游，也许看起来很奇怪、古怪，甚至是自找的疯狂。
But there's no question that these experiments fed into what NASA was about to undertake with Mercury.
但毫无疑问，这些实验为美国宇航局即将对水星进行的研究提供了帮助。
They answered a lot of questions.
他们回答了很多问题。
They answered a lot of big questions.
他们回答了很多重大问题。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : At 102,800 feet, higher than any human being has ever been in a balloon at this point, Joe Kittinger gets a signal from his ground crew.
编剧克雷格·瑞安 (Craig Ryan)：在 102,800 英尺的高度，这是人类乘坐气球的最高高度，乔·基廷格 (Joe Kittinger) 收到了地勤人员发出的信号。
He stands up in the gondola, disconnects his onboard oxygen supply, says a little prayer, and steps off.
他在缆车上站起来，断开船上的氧气供应，说了一点祈祷，然后走开了。
Narrator: : In April, 1947 a young army doctor was transferred to a remote airfield 100 miles north of Los Angeles, which would soon be named Edwards Air Force Base.
旁白： 1947 年 4 月，一位年轻的军医被转移到洛杉矶以北 100 英里的一个偏远机场，该机场很快被命名为爱德华兹空军基地。
John Paul Stapp was a maverick in the bourgeoning field of aviation medicine and Edwards was just the place to be.
约翰·保罗·斯塔普 (John Paul Stapp) 在新兴的航空医学领域是一位特立独行的人，而爱德华兹正是他的最佳人选。
Only months after Stapp's arrival, test pilot, Chuck Yeager, broke the sound barrier in the rocket-powered X-1.
斯塔普抵达几个月后，试飞员查克·耶格尔 (Chuck Yeager) 驾驶火箭驱动的 X-1 突破了音障。
His accomplishment marked the beginning of a new era that would push the limits of man and machine.
他的成就标志着一个突破人类和机器极限的新时代的开始。
Ken Hollings, Writer: : Aerospace as a concept, the idea of getting a man high up into the atmosphere and beyond, was still relatively new.
肯·霍林斯（Ken Hollings），作家： 航空航天作为一个概念，即让一个人进入大气层及更高的高度的想法，仍然相对较新。
And doctors were aware that the human body, although robust and neatly packaged, does have its limits.
医生们意识到，人体虽然坚固且结构整齐，但也有其局限性。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : John Stapp was watching jets go higher and faster and realized that scientists and doctors had no idea really what would happen to the human body as it was subjected to faster forces and higher altitudes than ever before.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇 (Francis French)：约翰·斯塔普 (John Stapp) 看着喷气式飞机飞得越来越高，并意识到科学家和医生并不知道人体会发生什么，因为人体受到比以往更快的力量和更高的高度。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : And so Stapp decides to investigate what the human body can handle.
伯克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），作家：：所以斯塔普决定调查人体可以处理什么。
How much speed we can handle, how much falling we can handle, how much altitude we can handle.
我们可以承受多少速度，我们可以承受多少坠落，我们可以承受多少高度。
And he starts to unpack this little by little.
他开始一点一点地解开这个谜团。
Narrator: : Stapp explored pilot ejection seats, liquid oxygen breathing systems, tested the impact of windblast, and subjected a succession of Air Force personnel to all manner of experimental contortions.
旁白：斯塔普探索了飞行员弹射座椅、液氧呼吸系统，测试了风冲击波的影响，并对一系列空军人员进行了各种实验性的扭曲。
But he spent the most time studying G-force limits: how the intense acceleration and deceleration, encountered in a rocket or high-speed jet, affected the human body.
但他花了最多的时间研究重力极限：火箭或高速喷气机中遇到的剧烈加速和减速如何影响人体。
The military maintained that any force beyond 18Gs -- or 18 times the pull of gravity -- would be fatal.
军方坚称，任何超过 18G（即引力的 18 倍）的力量都将是致命的。
Stapp helped design a series of faster and faster rocket sleds, to challenge that assumption.
斯塔普帮助设计了一系列越来越快的火箭雪橇，以挑战这一假设。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Imagine a soapbox racer made of aluminum on a railroad track with rockets on the back of it.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：想象一下铁轨上有一辆铝制肥皂盒赛车，后面装有火箭。
Which would be fired down the track and then slammed to a stop in just a few seconds.
它会沿着轨道发射，然后在短短几秒钟内猛然停下来。
Narrator: : Stapp rode the sleds himself, each time ramping up the speed and the G-force pressing on his body.
旁白：斯塔普亲自驾驶雪橇，每次都加快速度，重力压在他的身上。
He cracked ribs, lost six fillings and broke both of his wrists.
他的肋骨断裂，六块填充物脱落，双手腕也骨折。
"I prefer to take the physical punishment personally," he told one observer, "rather than risk the court-martial for killing some unlucky sergeant."
“我更愿意亲自接受体罚，”他告诉一位观察员，“也不愿冒着因杀死某个不幸的中士而被送上军事法庭的风险。”
Dana Kilanowski, Aviation Historian: : He got up to over 300 miles an hour and pulled 38 Gs.
Dana Kilanowski，航空历史学家：：他的时速超过 300 英里，牵引力为 38 G。
And when he told his superiors that he had survived 38 Gs they told him to cease and desist immediately.
当他告诉上级他已经在 38 G 中幸存时，他们告诉他立即停止。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Stapp used to say, "I always follow orders when they make sense." And he always pushed it a little farther than his superiors were comfortable with.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：斯塔普曾经说过，“当命令有意义时，我总是遵循它们。”而且他总是把事情做得比他的上级感到满意的更远一些。
Narrator: : On December 10th, 1954, Stapp took his experiment to it's extreme.
旁白： 1954 年 12 月 10 日，斯塔普将他的实验发挥到了极致。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : There were nine rocket engines on the back of that sled.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家： ：雪橇后面有九个火箭发动机。
And when they fired, Stapp said that he lost all orientation as he shot down this track in excess of 630 miles per hour.
斯塔普说，当他们开火时，他以超过每小时 630 英里的速度沿着这条轨道射击，失去了方向感。
At the end of the track, Stapp slammed to a full stop in 1.35 seconds.
在赛道的尽头，斯塔普在 1.35 秒内猛然停了下来。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : It was the equivalent to ejecting from an airplane at 30,000 feet.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：：这相当于从 30,000 英尺高空的飞机上弹射。
And he was out to prove that a pilot could do that in an ejection seat and survive.
他要证明飞行员可以在弹射座椅上做到这一点并生存下来。
Dana Kilanowski, Aviation Historian: : The most serious thing that happened was the hemorrhaging into his retinas.
Dana Kilanowski，航空历史学家：：发生的最严重的事情是他的视网膜出血。
He got out of the rocket sled, he thought he was permanently blind.
他从火箭雪橇上下来，他以为自己永远失明了。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : He was taken to the base hospital where gradually his vision came back.
格雷戈里·肯尼迪，航空航天历史学家：：他被送往基地医院，在那里他的视力逐渐恢复了。
He had two black eyes, but other than that, he was fine.
他有两只黑眼睛，但除此之外，他一切都很好。
Narrator: : John Paul Stapp had set an almost inconceivable G-force record of 46.2 and was heralded as "The Fastest Man on Earth."
旁白：约翰·保罗·斯塔普 (John Paul Stapp) 创造了几乎不可思议的 46.2 重力记录，被誉为“地球上跑得最快的人”。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : What's wonderful about Stapp is that he's not just a daredevil.
布克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），编剧：斯塔普的奇妙之处在于他不仅仅是一个胆大妄为的人。
He is an explorer in, in the sense that he never is satisfied.
他是一位探索者，从某种意义上说，他永远不会满足。
There's always the next frontier that he wants to go to.
总有他想去的下一个前沿。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : I was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base and I was in the fighter test section.
约瑟夫·基廷格，美国空军：：我驻扎在霍洛曼空军基地，在战斗机测试区。
And one day our boss called all the test pilots into a room and he said, gentlemen, we're going into space.
有一天，我们的老板把所有试飞员叫到一个房间里，他说，先生们，我们要进入太空。
Dr. Stapp has a space program and he's looking for a volunteer.
斯塔普博士有一个太空计划，他正在寻找一名志愿者。
And when he said that, there was a lot of laughter, because space was something that Buck Rodgers did.
当他说这句话时，引起了很多笑声，因为太空是巴克·罗杰斯所做的事情。
Pilots were not gonna go into space.
飞行员不会进入太空。
But, I always thought that anytime anything new that's never been done before is exciting.
但是，我一直认为任何时候任何以前从未做过的新事物都是令人兴奋的。
So, I immediately put my hand up.
于是，我立即举起了手。
Narrator: : John Paul Stapp had been promoted to Chief of the Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
旁白：约翰·保罗·斯塔普已晋升为新墨西哥州霍洛曼空军基地航空医学现场实验室主任。
He needed Captain Joseph Kittinger to help conduct a series of zero-gravity experiments, testing the reaction of the human body to weightlessness.
他需要约瑟夫·基廷格船长帮助进行一系列零重力实验，测试人体对失重的反应。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : Dr. Stapp was a visionary.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：斯塔普博士是一位有远见的人。
He could see that we were going to keep on going higher and faster and that eventually, we would reach space.
他可以看到我们将继续飞得更高更快，最终我们将到达太空。
And he wanted to be sure that when we did finally cross that threshold, we would be ready.
他想确保当我们最终跨过这个门槛时，我们已经做好了准备。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : All his life he had watched the advances that mankind had made and he complained all the time about the fact that we're always underestimating man, he said mankind can do amazing things if we will just believe in it and, and do the hard work necessary to make it possible.
克雷格·瑞安，作家：他一生都在见证人类所取得的进步，他一直抱怨我们总是低估人类，他说，如果我们相信这一点，并付出必要的努力，使之成为可能，人类就可以做出惊人的事情。
Narrator: : For his next experiment, Stapp wanted to study a person in space-- or at least as close as he could get.
旁白：：对于他的下一个实验，斯塔普想要研究太空中的一个人——或者至少尽可能接近。
For this, he would now turn to the oldest aerial vehicle known to man.
为此，他现在将求助于人类已知的最古老的飞行器。
In 1783, the first hot air balloon lifted a menagerie of farm animals several hundred feet above the palace of Versailles, amazing Louis XVI and his court of onlookers.
1783 年，第一个热气球将一群农场动物升到了凡尔赛宫上空数百英尺的高度，令路易十六和他的宫廷旁观者惊叹不已。
Later that year, Frenchman Jacques Charles became one of the first humans to view the world from the air.
同年晚些时候，法国人雅克·查尔斯成为第一批从空中观察世界的人类之一。
"Such utter calm.
“如此彻底的平静。
Such an astonishing view," he recounted.
如此令人惊讶的景象，”他回忆道。
"Seeing all these wonders, what fool could wish to hold back the progress of science?"
“看到所有这些奇迹，哪个傻瓜会希望阻止科学的进步呢？”
Richard Holmes, Writer: : No one knew what it was like up there, no one had been up there.
理查德·霍姆斯（Richard Holmes），作家：没有人知道那里是什么样子，也没有人去过那里。
If a balloon went into a cloud, would everybody be electrocuted?
如果气球飞入云层，所有人都会触电吗？
What would happen as you got nearer the sun?
当你靠近太阳时会发生什么？
How high can we go?
我们能走多高？
Narrator: : Throughout the 18th and early 19th century, bigger and better balloons lifted adventurers higher and higher into the sky, sending them to heights beyond 20,000 feet.
旁白： ：在整个 18 世纪和 19 世纪初，更大更好的气球将冒险家们升得越来越高，将他们送至超过 20,000 英尺的高度。
Then, in 1862, a British meteorologist and his pilot unwittingly ventured above 30,000 feet and discovered, to their horror, the limit of earth's hospitable atmosphere.
然后，在 1862 年，一位英国气象学家和他的飞行员无意中冒险飞越 30,000 英尺，并惊恐地发现了地球宜居大气层的极限。
Richard Holmes, Writer: : There's a famous lithograph which shows, uh, Coxwell and Glaisher at seven miles, with Coxwell in the hoop, tilting backwards and Glaisher slumped against the basket.
理查德·霍姆斯，作家：有一幅著名的石版画，上面画的是，呃，考克斯韦尔和格莱舍在七英里处，考克斯韦尔在篮筐里，向后倾斜，而格莱舍则倒在篮筐上。
They were suffering from oxygen deprivation which first of all effects your sight and then your muscular strength.
他们患有缺氧，这首先影响你的视力，然后影响你的肌肉力量。
Narrator: : They managed to descend in the nick of time.
旁白：：他们及时降落了。
A new frontier had been discovered.
一个新的领域被发现了。
Far from deterring aerial explorers, this forbidding death zone would lure them farther and farther into the clouds.
这个令人生畏的死亡区非但没有阻止空中探险者，反而会引诱他们越来越远地进入云层。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : It's an ancient human urge, to go as high up as you can.
布克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），作家： ：尽可能地登上高处，这是一种古老的人类冲动。
Just simply to touch the sky, that's, it's one of those primal urges.
只是简单地触摸天空，那就是，这是最原始的冲动之一。
Human beings had spent their entire evolution confined to the surface of the earth.
人类的整个进化过程都局限于地球表面。
And suddenly we have this three-dimensional space opening up above us.
突然间，我们的上方出现了这个三维空间。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : We live in the troposphere, which is the layer of the atmosphere closest to the earth's surface.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：：我们生活在对流层中，这是最接近地球表面的大气层。
It's where there's enough atmospheric pressure, enough oxygen to sustain life.
这里有足够的气压和氧气来维持生命。
It goes up to an altitude of about 35,000 feet.
它的海拔可达约 35,000 英尺。
The next layer up is the stratosphere.
下一层是平流层。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : The stratosphere was really the new frontier.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：平流层确实是新的前沿。
We knew that the air was very thin, we knew it was very very cold, but we didn't know much else.
我们知道空气非常稀薄，我们知道天气非常非常冷，但我们对此一无所知。
The balloonists were the first ones that went up there and exposed themselves to those conditions.
热气球驾驶员是第一批到达那里并将自己暴露在这些条件下的人。
Narrator: : In 1931, sealed inside an innovative pressurized and oxygenated gondola, Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard rose to over 51,000 feet, marking the first successful foray into the stratosphere.
旁白： 1931 年，瑞士物理学家奥古斯特·皮卡德 (Auguste Piccard) 密封在创新的加压充氧吊舱内，升至超过 51,000 英尺的高度，标志着首次成功进入平流层。
Then in 1933, the Soviets claimed they had exceeded 60,000 feet in their first high altitude balloon.
1933 年，苏联声称他们的第一个高空气球飞行高度已超过 60,000 英尺。
Within a year, the United States Army Air Corps and the National Geographic Society announced "Project Explorer," a joint venture that hoped to send three Army officers to a record 75,000 feet.
一年之内，美国陆军航空队和国家地理学会宣布成立“探索者计划”，这是一项合资项目，希望将三名陆军军官送上创纪录的 75,000 英尺高度。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : It was conceived partly for scientific reasons, but also because we were in -- even though it wasn't being called this yet -- a space race with the Russians.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），编剧： ：它的构思部分是出于科学原因，但也因为我们正在与俄罗斯人进行太空竞赛，尽管它还没有被称为太空竞赛。
And the way the score was kept was altitude records.
记录分数的方式是高度记录。
Narrator: : The balloon alone weighed in at over 5,000 pounds.
旁白：：仅气球的重量就超过 5,000 磅。
Two and a half acres of cotton fabric had to be glued together using three hundred gallons of rubber cement.
两英亩半的棉织物必须使用三百加仑的橡胶水泥粘合在一起。
The massive contraption was assembled on site in South Dakota by more than a hundred troops from a nearby Army base.
这个巨大的装置是由附近陆军基地的一百多名士兵在南达科他州现场组装的。
Three million cubic feet of hydrogen gas, pumped through canvas tubes, was needed to lift the gondola, the three men, and over a ton of scientific equipment.
需要通过帆布管泵入 300 万立方英尺的氢气来提升吊舱、三名男子以及超过一吨的科学设备。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : One of the big issues they wanted to solve was the problem of cosmic rays.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：：他们想要解决的大问题之一是宇宙射线问题。
When you get above the troposphere you are exposed to very strong particles of radiation coming from outer space.
当您到达对流层上方时，您会受到来自外太空的非常强的辐射粒子的影响。
They thought of them as cosmic bullets.
他们认为它们是宇宙子弹。
When they hit the earth's atmosphere they diffuse.
当它们到达地球大气层时就会扩散。
But if you're gonna be in the stratosphere for extended periods of time, they didn't really know how dangerous that was going to be.
但如果你要在平流层停留很长一段时间，他们并不知道那会有多危险。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : They thought cosmic rays might make people sterile.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇（Francis French）：他们认为宇宙射线可能会使人不育。
They might go into their eyes and make them blind.
它们可能会进入他们的眼睛并导致他们失明。
They might affect their brain.
它们可能会影响他们的大脑。
There were many, many theories along those lines.
沿着这些思路有很多很多理论。
Narrator: : On July 28, 1934, Explorer lifted off.
旁白： 1934 年 7 月 28 日，探索者号升空。
Americans were captivated by a live radio broadcast of the event.
美国人被这次活动的现场广播所吸引。
Radio Broadcast (Archival): : The year's greatest scientific air adventure.
无线电广播（存档）：：年度最伟大的科学空中冒险。
For the glory of the Army!, and the study of the mysterious cosmic rays, they risk their lives exploring the stratosphere.
为了军队的荣耀！为了研究神秘的宇宙射线，他们冒着生命危险探索平流层。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : They were almost within range of setting an altitude record when the balloon started to rip.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：：当气球开始撕裂时，他们几乎就在创造高度记录的范围内。
The bottom fell out of the balloon and then it became kind of a hydrogen filled parachute.
气球的底部掉了出来，然后它变成了一种充满氢气的降落伞。
Narrator: : As the hole widened, they picked up speed.
旁白：：随着洞变宽，他们加快了速度。
Plummeting towards earth, it was clear the men would have no choice but to bail out.
坠落到地面时，很明显这些人别无选择，只能跳伞。
Then at only five thousand feet, the balloon burst into flames.
然后，气球在距离五千英尺处突然起火。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : The pilots aboard were actually very lucky, they were able to crawl out and parachute safely.
作家克雷格·瑞安：机上的飞行员其实非常幸运，他们能够安全地爬出飞机并跳伞。
It couldn't have gone any worse unless they had been killed.
除非他们被杀，否则情况不会更糟。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : The Explorer Project balloonists were pushing the technology to the absolute limit and in many ways beyond what was safe at the time.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇 (Francis French)：“探索者计划”热气球飞行者将技术推向了绝对极限，在许多方面超出了当时的安全范围。
But America wants to get an altitude record.
但美国希望获得海拔记录。
It's a matter of national prestige.
这事关国家威信。
Narrator: : Within a year, a sizeable insurance claim allowed the balloonists to rise again aboard Explorer II, the first balloon to use helium as a lifting gas.
旁白：：一年之内，一笔可观的保险索赔使热气球驾驶员能够乘坐“探索者二号”再次升空，这是第一个使用氦气作为升力气体的热气球。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : Helium doesn't burn, so it's much safer.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：：氦气不会燃烧，因此更安全。
But it doesn't give you quite as much lift as hydrogen does, so you had to have a larger balloon.
但它无法提供像氢气一样大的升力，所以你必须有一个更大的气球。
They also reduced the crew size to two so the capsule was lighter.
他们还将乘员人数减少到两人，因此太空舱更轻。
Narrator: : With dawn breaking, Army Air Corps Captain Albert Stevens and First Lieutenant Orvil Anderson set off to finally perform their experiments in the stratosphere.
旁白：黎明破晓时分，陆军航空兵上尉阿尔伯特·史蒂文斯和中尉奥维尔·安德森出发，最终在平流层进行实验。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : They collected spores, they did radiation measurements.
格雷戈里·肯尼迪，航空航天历史学家：：他们收集了孢子，他们进行了辐射测量。
They took samples of the atmosphere.
他们采集了大气样本。
There was a whole agenda of science experiments they did during the flight.
他们在飞行期间进行了一整套科学实验。
Narrator: : The Explorer II balloonists reached an unprecedented 72,400 feet and after eight hours in flight, they landed safely in a field and received a hero's welcome.
旁白： 探险家二号热气球飞行者到达了前所未有的 72,400 英尺高度，经过八个小时的飞行后，他们安全降落在田野上，并受到了英雄式的欢迎。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : They were really up there.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），作家：他们真的很出色。
And, uh, it took a lot of guts, it took a lot of knowhow and it took a lot of problem solving ability to get up there and then get back down safely.
而且，呃，这需要很大的勇气，需要很多的专业知识，需要很多解决问题的能力才能到达那里然后安全地返回。
Narrator: : A cloth balloon, stuck together with rubber cement, had set a new world record, but the technology of the day had reached its limit.
旁白：：用橡胶水泥粘在一起的布气球创造了新的世界纪录，但当时的技术已经达到了极限。
Only a revolution in design would allow explorers to continue their ascent towards space.
只有设计上的革命才能让探险家继续向太空攀登。
Television Commercial (Archival): : This is a polyethylene plastic film.
电视广告（档案）： ：这是聚乙烯塑料薄膜。
We find it wrapped around fruits and vegetables at the grocery market.
我们在杂货市场上发现它包裹着水果和蔬菜。
And it has many other uses.
它还有许多其他用途。
It seems quite flimsy, but it is really quite strong.
看起来很脆弱，但实际上却很强大。
And it will hold air or helium -- (man blows into bag and then tries to pop it).
它会容纳空气或氦气——（人向袋子里吹气，然后试图将其弹出）。
Narrator: : By the mid 1950s, John Paul Stapp was watching the latest in balloon technology take flight at his Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base.
旁白：20 世纪 50 年代中期，约翰·保罗·斯塔普 (John Paul Stapp) 在霍洛曼空军基地的航空医学现场实验室观看了最新气球技术的飞行。
He seized upon these aerial platforms for his space research.
他利用这些空中平台进行太空研究。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : Balloons were very useful because you can get something into near space and then leave it there for a while.
Francis French，航空航天历史学家：：气球非常有用，因为你可以将某些东西送入近太空，然后将其留在那里一段时间。
If you're sending something up as high as a 100,000 feet in an airplane or a rocket, it'll only be up there for minutes if not seconds.
如果您用飞机或火箭将物体发送到 100,000 英尺的高空，它只会在那里停留几分钟甚至几秒钟。
A balloon can be up there for many, many hours, do a lot of tests, come down gently.
气球可以在那里停留很多很多个小时，做很多测试，然后轻轻地落下来。
So balloons were a very good way of doing many of these experiments.
因此，气球是进行许多此类实验的一种非常好的方法。
Narrator: : Dr. David Simons, a lead researcher at Holloman, had been sending a variety of instruments and animals to altitudes over 100,000 feet.
旁白：大卫·西蒙斯 (David Simons) 博士是霍洛曼研究所的首席研究员，他一直将各种仪器和动物发送到海拔超过 100,000 英尺的地方。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Simons was taking all kinds of measurements with devices they'd sent up.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：西蒙斯正在用他们送来的设备进行各种测量。
But the mice and hamsters couldn't report back on what happened to them up there.
但老鼠和仓鼠无法报告它们在那里发生的事情。
As Stapp said, all they do is sit there and defecate.
正如斯塔普所说，他们所做的就是坐在那里排便。
He said, what we really need is a human being aboard one of these flights so that we can, get observations, and so he asked Simons, "Do you think we could put a person into one of your gondolas and send them up to, 100,000 feet and then bring em back down alive?" And Simons thought about it awhile, did some calculations and said, "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be possible."
他说，我们真正需要的是一名人员登上这些航班，以便我们能够进行观察，因此他问西蒙斯，“你认为我们可以将一个人放入你的一架吊舱中，然后将他们送到 100,000 英尺的高度，然后将他们活着带回来吗？”西蒙斯想了一会儿，做了一些计算，然后说：“我看不出有什么理由说这是不可能的。”
Narrator: : They devised a plan to send David Simons himself high into the stratosphere to gather data on "human factors of spaceflight."
旁白：：他们制定了一项计划，将大卫·西蒙斯本人送入平流层，收集有关“太空飞行的人为因素”的数据。
But the necessity of studying a man in space would be a tough sell to Stapp's Air Force superiors.
但斯塔普的空军上级很难接受研究太空人的必要性。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : In the mid-1950's, if you were in the Air Force, it was almost career suicide if you mentioned space.
Francis French，航空航天历史学家：在 20 世纪 50 年代中期，如果你在空军服役，如果你提到太空，那几乎就是职业自杀。
Space travel was seen as science fiction comic book, kid's stuff.
太空旅行被视为科幻漫画书、孩子们的东西。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : The ability to put something into space didn't even exist yet.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：：将某些东西放入太空的能力当时还不存在。
There wasn't one single thing orbiting the earth but the moon.
除了月球之外，没有任何物体绕地球运行。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : High altitude rocketry was still in its infancy so manned space flight was not regarded as a respectable endeavor.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：：高空火箭技术仍处于起步阶段，因此载人航天飞行并不被视为一项值得尊敬的事业。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : There wasn't a piece of the pie for space research.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：太空研究没有分一杯羹。
Dr. Stapp's challenge was to get the funding to do the project.
斯塔普博士面临的挑战是获得开展该项目的资金。
And he was going to get it done one way or the other.
他会以某种方式完成这件事。
Narrator: : After months of negotiations, Stapp's perseverance paid off.
旁白：：经过几个月的谈判，斯塔普的坚持得到了回报。
In the spring of 1956, "Project Manhigh" was approved with a modest budget.
1956 年春，“曼海计划”以有限的预算获得批准。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : Manhigh was very specifically, Aeromedical research.
Mike Smith，航空航天工程师：Manhigh 的研究非常具体，是航空医学研究。
The Manhigh Project, they saw as the true stepping stone to space.
他们认为曼海伊项目是通往太空的真正垫脚石。
Narrator: : The first order of business was to build a balloon big enough, and light enough, to take a man and a capsule, filled with hundreds of pounds of scientific equipment, beyond 100,000 feet.
旁白： 首要任务是建造一个足够大、足够轻的气球，以容纳一个人和一个太空舱，并装满数百磅的科学设备，飞到 100,000 英尺之外。
Stapp and Simons turned to one the nation's premiere balloon manufacturers, Winzen Research, in Minneapolis.
斯塔普和西蒙斯求助于美国首屈一指的气球制造商之一——位于明尼阿波利斯的 Winzen Research。
Otto Winzen's silvery creations had been ascending with Simons' lab animals for nearly four years now.
近四年来，奥托·温岑 (Otto Winzen) 的银色创作与西蒙斯 (Simons) 的实验动物一起不断提升。
His corporation also supplied balloons for a series of programs run by the Navy, but Manhigh would be their biggest project by far.
他的公司还为海军运行的一系列项目提供气球，但曼海伊将是他们迄今为止最大的项目。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Otto Winzen was a brilliant guy, but he wasn't a business man.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：奥托·温岑（Otto Winzen）是一个才华横溢的人，但他不是一个商人。
And so what it really took to run a manufacturing facility like Winzen Research was someone who could manage the facility, manage the personnel and that's where his wife Vera Winzen came in.
因此，要经营像 Winzen Research 这样的制造工厂，真正需要的是一个能够管理设施、管理人员的人，而这正是他的妻子 Vera Winzen 的用武之地。
She actually pioneered a lot of the processes that allowed them to build bigger and bigger and better and better balloons.
她实际上开创了许多流程，使他们能够制造出越来越大、越来越好的气球。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : The balloons were laid out on very long, thin tables.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：：气球被放在又长又薄的桌子上。
They would lay out one section of the balloon and run a heat sealer down one edge, going down the table.
他们会布置气球的一部分，并沿着一侧边缘运行热封机，一直到桌子下方。
Lay the, uh, seal back, dispense another layer of film, run a seal until they run the closing seal and then fold it up and put it in a box.
将封条放回去，再涂一层薄膜，进行封条，直到封条完成，然后将其折叠起来放入盒子中。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Because that polyethylene was so thin, they had to be extremely careful about how they worked with it.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），作家：：由于聚乙烯太薄，他们必须非常小心地处理它。
The Winzen's called them their "balloon girls," they worked in stocking feet and they would check their finger nails every morning to make sure there wasn't a hang nail.
温森夫妇称她们为“气球女孩”，她们穿着袜子工作，每天早上都会检查指甲，以确保没有挂指甲。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : Vera wanted to make sure that she got the best craftsmanship and made sure that everybody cared about making these balloons perfect.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：：维拉希望确保她拥有最好的工艺，并确保每个人都关心使这些气球变得完美。
Narrator: : By the fall of 1956, the first of many balloons had been completed, and work on David Simons' capsule was well underway.
旁白： ： 到 1956 年秋天，第一个气球已经完成，大卫·西蒙斯太空舱的建造工作正在顺利进行。
The project was woefully underfunded, but Stapp and his team were masters of improvisation.
该项目资金严重不足，但斯塔普和他的团队是即兴创作的大师。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : The Manhigh gondola really did look like something that your crazy uncle built in the garage.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：曼海伊缆车确实看起来像你疯狂的叔叔在车库里建造的东西。
It was about the size of a telephone booth.
它大约有一个电话亭那么大。
A man could not stand up inside the capsule.
一名男子在太空舱内无法站立。
And it needed to be that small because, the heavier the payload is, the bigger a balloon you need.
它需要那么小，因为有效载荷越重，你需要的气球就越大。
So you needed a pretty small capsule to make all of this work.
所以你需要一个非常小的胶囊来完成所有这些工作。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : These guys, they're really kind of cowboys.
布克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），编剧：：这些家伙，他们确实是牛仔。
They're working on the fringes of the military throwing together spare parts in incredibly smart, practical ways.
他们在军队的边缘工作，以极其聪明、实用的方式组装备件。
They accomplished a huge amount in a fairly short amount of time.
他们在相当短的时间内完成了巨大的工作。
Narrator: : Prior to sending Simons into the stratosphere, Stapp wanted a trial run with an experienced aviator in control.
旁白：：在将西蒙斯送入平流层之前，斯塔普希望在一位经验丰富的飞行员的控制下进行一次试运行。
Captain Joseph Kittinger was the obvious choice.
约瑟夫·基廷格上尉是显而易见的选择。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : David Simons was a very serious scientist, but he was not a test pilot.
约瑟夫·基廷格，美国空军：大卫·西蒙斯是一位非常认真的科学家，但他不是一名试飞员。
And Dr. Stapp knew that he needed somebody that knew how to operate in an emergency.
斯塔普医生知道他需要一个知道如何在紧急情况下进行操作的人。
There's a lot of potential things that could go wrong.
有很多潜在的事情可能会出错。
I spent days in my pressure suit, going over every inch of that capsule, going through the procedures.
我穿着压力服花了好几天时间，检查了胶囊的每一寸，完成了程序。
And I had complete confidence in the equipment and in myself.
我对设备和我自己都充满信心。
This was gonna be just another test flight for me.
这对我来说只是另一次试飞。
Narrator: : Space officially begins 62 miles, or 327,000 feet above earth.
旁白： ：太空正式开始于距地球 62 英里（即 327,000 英尺）的地方。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : Space is very, very close.
Francis French，航空航天历史学家：：太空非常非常接近。
We could drive there in an hour if we had a car that could go straight up.
如果我们有一辆可以直上的车的话，我们可以在一个小时内开车到那里。
But you don't have to get up into space to essentially experience the conditions of space.
但你不必进入太空才能本质上体验太空的条件。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : At 100,000 feet, you're above 99 percent of the earth's atmosphere.
Mike Smith，航空航天工程师： ：在 100,000 英尺的高度，您处于地球大气层 99% 的上方。
You have almost no pressure and there is basically no oxygen.
你几乎没有压力，也基本上没有氧气。
There is extreme heat during the day, extreme cold at night so you have almost all of the same conditions, that you have in space except for the weightlessness.
白天极热，晚上极冷，所以除了失重之外，你几乎拥有与太空中相同的所有条件。
If something goes wrong, you're dead.
如果出了什么问题，你就死定了。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : There was a psychological danger as well.
Francis French，航空航天历史学家：：也存在心理危险。
A lot of doctors thought that being that high in the atmosphere might do very strange things to a person's mind.
许多医生认为，在如此高的大气层中可能会对人的大脑产生非常奇怪的影响。
A lot of questions wouldn't be answered until the person went into space or into the upper atmosphere.
直到这个人进入太空或进入高层大气之后，许多问题才会得到解答。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Although some Air Force pilots had arced briefly above 100,000 feet, it was just a quick shot.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：尽管一些空军飞行员曾短暂飞过 100,000 英尺，但这只是快速射击。
The Manhigh Project would be the first mission to send somebody up and expose them to those conditions for a significant amount of time.
曼海伊项目将是第一个将人员送上太空并让他们长时间暴露在这些条件下的任务。
Narrator: : In the early hours of June 2, 1957, Captain Joseph Kittinger was ready for his voyage to the threshold of space.
旁白： 1957 年 6 月 2 日凌晨，约瑟夫·基廷格船长准备好踏上太空之旅。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : I went into the capsule with my pressure suit on.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：：我穿着压力服进入太空舱。
They sealed the capsule up, completely, airtight.
他们将胶囊完全密封起来。
And put me on back of a pickup truck and we drove twelve miles to the airfield at South St. Paul, Minnesota.
然后把我放在一辆皮卡车的后面，我们开车十二英里到达明尼苏达州南圣保罗的机场。
Dr. Stapp, of course, was there and Simons, and I'm ready to go.
当然，斯塔普博士和西蒙斯也在场，我已经准备好出发了。
Narrator: : By first light, the Winzen Research crew had preparations well under way.
旁白：：黎明时分，Winzen 研究团队的准备工作已顺利进行。
With the balloon nearly inflated, the capsule, now wrapped in several layers of Mylar insulation, was rolled into position.
当气球几乎膨胀时，包裹着多层聚酯薄膜绝缘材料的胶囊被卷入到位。
Otto Winzen gave it one final inspection.
奥托·温岑对其进行了最后一次检查。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : There's something absolutely wonderful and dramatic about a balloon.
布克哈德·比尔格 (Burkhard Bilger)，作家： 气球有一些绝对奇妙和戏剧性的东西。
This device that's both this huge feat of human engineering, but is also still completely at the mercy of the atmosphere.
这个装置既是人类工程学的一项伟大壮举，但也仍然完全受大气层的支配。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : It's scary and beautiful at the same time.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：：它既可怕又美丽。
You have all these loose folds of material hanging down from this little bubble of helium in the top.
所有这些松散的材料褶皱都从顶部的小氦气泡中垂下来。
The higher you go, as the atmospheric pressure goes down, that bubble of helium expands and completely inflates the balloon.
你飞得越高，随着大气压下降，氦气泡就会膨胀并使气球完全膨胀。
It always amazes me.
它总是让我感到惊讶。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : I went up at about 800 feet per minute.
Joseph Kittinger，美国空军：我以每分钟约 800 英尺的速度上升。
And when I went through 72,000 feet, I gave a salute to Anderson and Stevens, because I was now beating their record that had been there since 1935.
当我飞过 72,000 英尺时，我向安德森和史蒂文斯致敬，因为我现在正在打破他们自 1935 年以来一直保持的纪录。
I was just amazed at how beautiful it was.
我只是惊讶于它是如此美丽。
The transition from the blue at the horizon to the dark sky overhead.
从地平线的蓝色过渡到头顶上的黑暗天空。
It's absolutely black in the middle of the day.
中午的时候天完全黑了。
Pretty close to 90,000 feet I realized that my oxygen system was not working quite right.
在接近 90,000 英尺的高度时，我意识到我的氧气系统无法正常工作。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : As the balloon got up to 96,000 feet, it was beginning to get dire.
克雷格·瑞恩 (Craig Ryan)，作家： 当热气球升到 96,000 英尺的高度时，情况开始变得可怕。
It was really a mystery, why was the oxygen supply being depleted so fast and why were the carbon dioxide levels rising?
这实在是一个谜，为什么氧气供应消耗得如此之快，而二氧化碳含量为何却上升？
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : I knew that I was going to be low on oxygen.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：我知道我的氧气将会不足。
So I started letting the gas out of the balloon so I can come down.
所以我开始放掉气球中的气体，这样我就可以下来了。
And I had to be very, very careful because if I let out too much I would come down too fast and it would be dangerous for landing.
我必须非常非常小心，因为如果我释放太多，我就会下降得太快，着陆时就会很危险。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : He got back into the troposphere and was able to pop the portholes on the Manhigh gondola, let some fresh air in.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：他回到对流层，打开曼海伊缆车上的舷窗，让一些新鲜空气进来。
He was just about out of oxygen.
他快要缺氧了。
It was very, very close.
非常非常接近。
He landed in the creek, and Simons and Stapp rushed over to the Manhigh gondola, popped the top off, and Kittinger was sitting inside with a big grin on his face.
他降落在小溪里，西蒙斯和斯塔普冲向曼海伊缆车，打开顶部，基廷格坐在里面，脸上挂着大大的笑容。
Narrator: : Manhigh I established an altitude record of 96,784 feet.
旁白：：Manhigh I 创造了 96,784 英尺的海拔记录。
Joseph Kittinger had been higher than any man had ever been in a balloon.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger）比任何乘坐气球的人都飞得更高。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : It turned out to have been in some ways a disastrous flight.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），编剧： 事实证明，从某些方面来说，这是一次灾难性的飞行。
They discovered that an oxygen valve had been installed backwards and that they had been venting their oxygen supply to the outside atmosphere rather than into the capsule.
他们发现氧气阀安装反了，他们将氧气供应排到了外部大气中，而不是排到了太空舱中。
The radio failed.
收音机坏了。
All kinds of things went wrong.
各种各样的事情都出了问题。
And you would think, total disaster.
你可能会想，这完全是一场灾难。
But, in John Paul Stapp's mind, it was a perfect test flight, because in his mind that's exactly what a test flight is for.
但是，在约翰·保罗·斯塔普看来，这是一次完美的试飞，因为在他看来，这正是试飞的目的。
Let's find the problems, let's fix 'em.
让我们找出问题，解决问题。
Narrator: : Only a few weeks after Kittinger's test flight, David Simons was finally getting ready for the project's true mission.
旁白：基廷格试飞仅几周后，大卫·西蒙斯终于为该项目的真正使命做好了准备。
He would travel to the fringes of the earth's atmosphere for a full 24 hours, measuring his own physical and psychological endurance in what he called, "the greater cosmic wilderness" of space.
他会在地球大气层边缘旅行整整24小时，在他所谓的“更大的宇宙荒野”太空中测量自己的身体和心理承受能力。
But in the summer of 1957, as the launch date approached, Project Manhigh hit a new obstacle.
但 1957 年夏天，随着发射日期的临近，Manhigh 项目遇到了新的障碍。
Congress slashed funding to all military research and development.
国会削减了所有军事研究和开发的资金。
The project was already nearly ten times over budget and Stapp had been raiding other programs to cover the expenses.
该项目已经超出预算近十倍，斯塔普一直在寻找其他项目来支付费用。
Now, Project Manhigh would have to be shut down.
现在，曼海项目必须被关闭。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : The trouble with the Manhigh program in many ways was that the people who were running it were really the only people that knew how successful it was.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇（Francis French）：曼海伊计划在很多方面的问题在于，运行该计划的人实际上是唯一知道该计划有多成功的人。
And it was very, very hard to persuade other people to understand that what they were doing was important.
说服其他人明白他们所做的事情很重要是非常非常困难的。
Dana Kilanowski, Aviation Historian: : The Air Force priority was not space.
达纳·基拉诺夫斯基 (Dana Kilanowski)，航空历史学家：：空军的首要任务不是太空。
So the Manhigh budget was a shoestring budget.
所以曼海伊的预算是一个小额预算。
And Dr. Stapp was always very innovative in getting more money and more equipment.
斯塔普博士在获得更多资金和更多设备方面总是非常有创新精神。
But there were limits to what even he could accomplish.
但即便是他所能完成的事情也是有限的。
Narrator: : Just as Stapp and Simons were about to admit defeat, Otto Winzen announced that he and Vera would step in to cover the shortfall.
旁白：：正当斯塔普和西蒙斯准备承认失败时，奥托·温岑宣布他和维拉将介入以弥补不足。
The project was back on.
该项目又恢复了。
As Simons would later recount, "I was as happy as a five-year-old on Christmas Day."
正如西蒙斯后来回忆的那样，“圣诞节那天我像五岁的孩子一样快乐。”
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : Simons was a scientist who had a great personal stake in the mission he was about to undertake.
弗朗西斯·弗伦奇（Francis French），航空航天历史学家：西蒙斯是一位科学家，他对即将承担的任务有着巨大的个人利害关系。
Unlike some of the astronauts that came later, who would be essentially doing somebody else's experiments, Manhigh II was going to be the culmination of Simons' career.
与后来的一些宇航员本质上是在做别人的实验不同，曼海伊二号将成为西蒙斯职业生涯的顶峰。
Narrator: : In preparation for his launch, Simons did one final check of the capsule, including the electrical control panel and a new and improved air supply system.
旁白：：在准备发射时，西蒙斯对太空舱进行了最后一次检查，包括电气控制面板和新的改进的供气系统。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Stapp said the goal of putting David Simons up there was to find out, can he survive?
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：斯塔普说让大卫·西蒙斯上场的目的是为了弄清楚他能活下来吗？
And can he do useful work in that environment?
他能在那种环境下做有用的工作吗？
They even taped a piece of photographic film to David Simons' forearm so that they could track where the cosmic rays impacted his body.
他们甚至在大卫·西蒙斯的前臂上贴了一张胶片，以便追踪宇宙射线撞击他身体的位置。
You don't want to say he was a guinea pig, but he was the closest thing to that as he sat there sealed inside that capsule getting ready to launch.
你不想说他是一只小白鼠，但当他坐在密封的太空舱内准备发射时，他是最接近小白鼠的人。
Narrator: : Finally, in the early hours of August 19th, Simons was transported to the launch site, an open-pit iron-mine, two hours north of Minneapolis.
旁白：：最后，在 8 月 19 日凌晨，西蒙斯被运送到发射场，这是一个露天铁矿，距离明尼阿波利斯以北两小时车程。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : I never get tired of seeing a launch.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：：我永远不会厌倦看到发射。
You, you think of how thin this material is, how much the balloon itself weighs, how much the payload weighs and how much lift is in that balloon.
你，你会想到这种材料有多薄，气球本身有多重，有效载荷有多重，以及气球中的升力有多大。
Not like a rocket with a bunch of fire and noise, it's something completely unique.
它不像火箭那样充满火焰和噪音，它是完全独特的东西。
And, uh, beautiful.
而且，呃，很漂亮。
Narrator: : A mobile command center allowed Stapp and Winzen to keep in contact with Simons throughout the flight.
旁白：：移动指挥中心让斯塔普和温岑在整个飞行过程中与西蒙斯保持联系。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : Dave, what is your rate of ascent now?
Otto Winzen（档案音频）：戴夫，你现在的上升速度是多少？
David Simons (Archival Audio): : Well, we're still under 1,100 now, Otto.
David Simons（档案音频）： ：好吧，我们现在还不到 1,100 人，Otto。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : Roger, thank you.
奥托·温岑（档案音频）：罗杰，谢谢你。
What do you read now, Dave?
戴夫，你现在读什么？
Over.
超过。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : Very fine, Dave.
奥托·温岑（档案音频）：：很好，戴夫。
Capsule pressure should be holding now.
现在胶囊压力应该保持不变。
You're past 25,000, is that Roger?
你已经超过 25,000 了，是罗杰吗？
Over.
超过。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : I think we should try to maintain the altitude as we previously discussed.
Otto Winzen（档案音频）：我认为我们应该尽力保持我们之前讨论的高度。
Narrator: : As the balloon leveled off above 101,000 feet, Simons focused on his regiment of over 25 experiments and observations.
旁白：：当热气球在 101,000 英尺上方平稳飞行时，西蒙斯专注于他的超过 25 项实验和观察。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : He's looking at radiation meters, looking at pressure meters, looking at his respiration, his perspiration.
Francis French，航空航天历史学家：：他正在查看辐射计，查看压力计，查看他的呼吸，他的排汗。
He can describe what it's like personally and tell the people on the ground exactly what's happening to him.
他可以亲自描述当时的情况，并准确地告诉现场的人们发生在他身上的事情。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : Dave, as far as we're concerned, things are going so well that I see no reason why you shouldn't stay up during the night.
Otto Winzen（档案音频）： ：戴夫，就我们而言，一切进展顺利，我认为你没有理由不熬夜。
What is your feeling?
你的感受是什么？
Over.
超过。
David Simons (Archival Audio): :: Aye, roger, I agree one hundred percent.
David Simons（档案音频）：:: 是的，罗杰，我百分百同意。
Otto Winzen (Archival Audio): : So relax a minute and eat another candy bar, would ya?
Otto Winzen（档案音频）： ：放松一下，再吃一块糖果，好吗？
Narrator: : Simons settled in, radioing back, "I have a ring-side view of the heavens."
旁白：：西蒙斯坐了下来，用无线电回复道：“我可以从擂台边看到天空。”
"Where the atmosphere merged with the colorless blackness of space," he later recalled, "the sky was so heavily saturated with this blue-purple color, that it was hard to comprehend, like a musical note which is beautifully vibrant, but so high that it lies almost beyond the ear's ability to hear, leaving you certain of its brilliance but unsure whether you actually heard it or dreamed of its beauty."
“当大气层与无色的黑色太空融为一体时，”他后来回忆道，“天空被这种蓝紫色深深地浸透，让人难以理解，就像一个美丽而充满活力的音符，但又如此之高，几乎超出了耳朵的听觉能力，让你确定它的辉煌，但不确定你是否真的听到了它，还是梦到了它的美丽。”
Ken Hollings, Writer: : The most beautiful descriptions come from the balloonists who are that high up and they can suddenly see this other universe, this dark, empty, fascinating, glittering universe.
肯·霍林斯（Ken Hollings），作家：最美丽的描述来自热气球飞行者，他们在那么高的地方突然可以看到另一个宇宙，这个黑暗、空虚、迷人、闪闪发光的宇宙。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : The willingness to put yourself in extreme danger simply to satisfy your curiosity is one of the oldest human impulses.
布克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），作家：：仅仅为了满足自己的好奇心而愿意将自己置于极端危险之中是人类最古老的冲动之一。
You know, there weren't new continents to explore, but there was this place right above us.
你知道，没有新的大陆可供探索，但这个地方就在我们上方。
And we were able to exert that human impulse to get there.
我们能够发挥人类的冲动来实现这一目标。
Narrator: : After 32 hours aloft, David Simons returned to Earth.
旁白：：在空中飞行 32 小时后，大卫·西蒙斯返回地球。
The Manhigh team had made history on the edge of space.
曼海伊团队在太空边缘创造了历史。
Simons was put on the cover of Life magazine and The New York Times celebrated him as "The First Space Man."
西蒙斯登上了《生活》杂志的封面，《纽约时报》称赞他为“第一个太空人”。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Everybody connected with the project, including John Paul Stapp thought that this was going to be the mission that brought space research into the fore with the Air Force and really got them the respect and the funding that they thought they deserved.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：每个与该项目有关的人，包括约翰·保罗·斯塔普（John Paul Stapp）都认为，这将是一项将太空研究与空军一起推向前台的任务，并真正为他们赢得了他们认为应得的尊重和资金。
What happened in fact was, in spite of the celebrity that David Simons experienced, they had pretty much exhausted their funding.
事实上，尽管大卫·西蒙斯享有盛名，但他们的资金几乎已经耗尽。
And they did not have enough money even to do the full analysis of the data they'd gathered on the flight, much less begin seriously talking about another flight.
他们甚至没有足够的钱来对在航班上收集的数据进行全面分析，更不用说开始认真谈论另一次航班了。
Douglas Edwards, CBS (Archival): : Until two days ago, that sound had never been heard on this earth.
道格拉斯·爱德华兹 (Douglas Edwards)，CBS（档案）：：直到两天前，地球上还从未听到过这种声音。
Suddenly it has become as much a part of 20th century life as the whir of your vacuum cleaner.
突然之间，它就像吸尘器的呼呼声一样成为 20 世纪生活的一部分。
Ken Hollings, Writer: : On October the 4, 1957, the soviets announce, "Hey, guess what, we've got sputnik orbiting the earth and you don't." For Americans, it is genuine shock.
肯·霍林斯（Ken Hollings），编剧：1957 年 10 月 4 日，苏联宣布：“嘿，你猜怎么着，我们已经有了人造卫星绕地球运行，而你却没有。”对于美国人来说，这是真正的震惊。
Narrator: : For a decade, the Americans and the Soviets had been vying for geopolitical dominance.
旁白：：十年来，美国和苏联一直在争夺地缘政治主导地位。
Now, Sputnik had caught the United States completely off-guard.
现在，人造卫星让美国完全措手不及。
Almost overnight, putting a man in space became a national priority.
几乎一夜之间，将人类送入太空成为国家优先事项。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : Suddenly people were more interested in what we were doing.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：突然间人们对我们所做的事情更感兴趣了。
Dr. Stapp was now not looked at as a mad scientist but as a man of, of, vision.
斯塔普博士现在不再被视为一个疯狂的科学家，而是一个有远见的人。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : Very, very quickly Manhigh III planning began.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），编剧： 曼海伊三世的计划很快就开始了。
And now this wasn't just gonna be a scientific research flight.
现在这不仅仅是一次科学研究飞行。
This was now seen as the prototype for spaceflight.
现在这被视为航天的原型。
Narrator: : Candidates for Manhigh III were put through a rigorous gauntlet of tests that would become the basis for qualifying future astronauts.
旁白：曼海伊三号的候选人要经过严格的测试，这些测试将成为未来宇航员资格的基础。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : They were trying to eliminate anybody who had even the slightest medical or psychological flaw.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇（Francis French）：他们试图消灭任何有哪怕是最轻微的医学或心理缺陷的人。
They would be put in isolation chambers, not knowing how long they would be in there.
他们会被关进隔离室，不知道要在那里呆多久。
They were subjected to intense cold, intense heat.
他们经受着严寒、酷暑。
They were rotated, spun and tumbled every possible way and asked to do technical work.
他们以各种可能的方式旋转、旋转和翻滚，并被要求做技术工作。
It was a very, very grueling selection process.
这是一个非常非常艰苦的选择过程。
Narrator: : By September of 1958, Manhigh III had it's man, a 26-year-old Air Force pilot with a masters degree in engineering, named Clifton McClure.
旁白： 1958 年 9 月，Manhigh III 迎来了自己的人，一位 26 岁的空军飞行员，拥有工程学硕士学位，名叫克利夫顿·麦克卢尔 (Clifton McClure)。
Three weeks later, Manhigh III took flight and McClure was put to his ultimate test.
三周后，曼海伊三世起飞，麦克卢尔接受了终极考验。
As he rose into the stratosphere, his capsule began to overheat.
当他升入平流层时，他的太空舱开始过热。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : At almost 100,000 feet, they notice his voice is getting kind of sluggish.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪 (Gregory Kennedy)：：在近 100,000 英尺的高度，他们注意到他的声音变得有些迟缓。
So they ask him to report his body temperature.
于是他们要求他报告体温。
And, it's already a 104.1.
而且，它已经是 104.1 了。
So the decision was made -- bring him down.
于是就做出了决定——把他打倒。
Narrator: : During the descent, a radio malfunction led the ground crew to believe that McClure was unconscious.
旁白：：在下降过程中，无线电故障导致地勤人员认为麦克卢尔失去了知觉。
After two harrowing hours, the capsule landed within a few miles of the launch site.
经过两个令人痛苦的小时后，太空舱降落在距离发射场几英里的地方。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : They ran to the gondola, and McClure was pulling his helmet off and grinning.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧：他们跑向缆车，麦克卢尔摘下头盔，咧着嘴笑。
They took his temperature -- it was more than a 108 degrees.
他们测量了他的体温——超过 108 度。
Nobody could believe that the man was still conscious.
没有人相信这个男人还有意识。
Narrator: : Clifton McClure had turned out to be the ideal astronaut prototype -- the very definition of what would come to be known as, "The Right Stuff."
旁白：克利夫顿·麦克卢尔被证明是理想的宇航员原型——这正是后来被称为“正确的东西”的定义。
But by the time his heroic mission was complete, the tides had turned, once and for all, against Project Manhigh.
但当他的英雄使命完成时，形势已经一劳永逸地转向了曼海计划。
A week earlier, NASA had started its operations and soon their manned space program, Project Mercury, would be receiving all the public attention and all the government funding.
一周前，美国宇航局开始运作，很快他们的载人航天计划“水星计划”将受到所有公众的关注和所有政府资助。
Gregory Kennedy, Aerospace Historian: : NASA was given responsibility for manned space flight.
航空航天历史学家格雷戈里·肯尼迪：美国宇航局被赋予载人航天飞行的责任。
The Air Force was told to get out of that business.
空军被告知停止这项业务。
Narrator: : The new space agency asked John Paul Stapp for his assistance in selecting their first astronauts.
旁白：：新成立的航天局请求约翰·保罗·斯塔普协助选择第一批宇航员。
Stapp agreed, and used his regimen of physical and psychological tests to help reduce the pool of 69 candidates down to the world famous Mercury Seven.
斯塔普同意了，并利用他的身体和心理测试方案帮助将 69 名候选人减少到世界著名的水星七号。
Clifton McClure was turned down by the Mercury program because he was too tall.
克利夫顿·麦克卢尔因身高太高而被水星计划拒绝。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : It was tough for the men and women who had been involved with Project Manhigh to see all of their, their glory stolen by, by NASA and the rocket program.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：对于那些参与曼海计划的男男女女来说，看到他们的一切、他们的荣耀被美国宇航局和火箭计划偷走，他们感到很难过。
They were not allowed to bask in the glory that the Mercury astronauts were able to experience.
他们不被允许享受水星宇航员能够体验到的荣耀。
Narrator: : By the summer of 1960, John Paul Stapp was back at work with the Air Force on one last high-altitude balloon experiment.
旁白： 1960 年夏天，约翰·保罗·斯塔普 (John Paul Stapp) 重返空军，进行最后一次高空气球实验。
He named it Project Excelsior, Latin for "ever upward," and once again, put Joseph Kittinger at the helm.
他将其命名为 Project Excelsior（拉丁语，意为“永远向上”），并再次让约瑟夫·基廷格 (Joseph Kittinger) 掌舵。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : For Stapp, there was one problem that hadn't been solved yet and that was the problem of emergency escape.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），编剧： 对于斯塔普来说，有一个问题还没有解决，那就是紧急逃生的问题。
What if a high altitude pilot or an astronaut needs to get out of the vehicle?
如果高空飞行员或宇航员需要下车怎么办？
How do you get them from the upper stratosphere and back into a warm breathable atmosphere in a reasonable amount of time?
如何在合理的时间内将它们从平流层上层带回到温暖透气的大气中？
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : If a man opened his parachute at 100,000 feet and it takes him 30, 40 minutes to get down, he'd be dead.
美国空军约瑟夫·基廷格：如果一个人在 100,000 英尺高空打开降落伞，需要 30 到 40 分钟才能降落，那么他就会死。
The challenge is to get from 100,000 feet down to 20,000 feet before you can open the parachute.
挑战是在打开降落伞之前从 100,000 英尺下降到 20,000 英尺。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : They knew that the human body, falling through the upper atmosphere, tends to go in what's called a flat spin.
克雷格·瑞安（Craig Ryan），作家：他们知道，人体从高层大气中坠落时，往往会发生所谓的扁平旋转。
Like a record album on a platter, faster and faster until the pilot would pass out.
就像盘上的唱片一样，越来越快，直到飞行员昏倒。
What they needed was to test a new kind of multi-stage parachute, which would keep you in a stable attitude until you got down to where you could open a traditional parachute and fall the rest of the way.
他们需要的是测试一种新型的多级降落伞，它可以让你保持稳定的姿态，直到你到达可以打开传统降落伞并在剩下的过程中坠落的位置。
That was Kittinger's mission.
这就是基廷格的使命。
Narrator: : After 90 minutes in flight, Kittinger leveled off at 102,800 feet, breaking the altitude record set by David Simons three years earlier.
旁白： 飞行 90 分钟后，基廷格在 102,800 英尺的高度稳定飞行，打破了大卫·西蒙斯三年前创下的高度记录。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : So I'm there and I'm standing up and I'm looking up at the horizon.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：我就在那里，站起来，抬头看着地平线。
I have this phenomenal, beautiful view.
我看到了这非凡而美丽的景色。
I stood there for four or five seconds absorbing the situation I was in.
我站在那里四五秒钟，思考着我所处的情况。
And then I said a prayer and I jumped.
然后我做了一个祈祷，然后我跳了起来。
Ken Hollings, Writer: : The image of, of, Kittinger falling through space -- this tiny speck high above the earth.
肯·霍林斯（Ken Hollings），编剧：：基廷格从太空中坠落的形象——地球上方高高的一个小斑点。
It's amazing.
太棒了。
He's between these different worlds.
他处于这些不同的世界之间。
Burkhard Bilger, Writer: : When you're that high above the earth, there's no sound, there's no wind, there's nothing you feel.
布克哈德·比尔格（Burkhard Bilger），作家：当你在离地球那么高的地方时，没有声音，没有风，你感觉不到任何东西。
He's just falling silently through this void.
他只是静静地坠入这片虚空。
Craig Ryan, Writer: : The parachute worked exactly as planned.
克雷格·瑞恩（Craig Ryan），作家：：降落伞完全按照计划工作。
He began to gradually slow down as the air thickened around him.
随着周围的空气变得凝重，他的速度也开始逐渐放缓。
And he got to about 17,000 feet, where he pulled the ripcord on his main parachute, it opened and he knew that he was gonna make it.
他到达了大约 17,000 英尺的高度，拉动主降落伞上的开伞索，降落伞打开，他知道自己会成功。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : There's always been a drive to go further and higher, but in this case the overwhelming drive was to make people safe.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇 (Francis French)： 总是有一种追求更远、更高的动力，但在这种情况下，压倒性的动力是让人们安全。
It wasn't a quest for glory, it was a quest for knowledge and there's something even more beautiful about that.
这不是对荣耀的追求，而是对知识的追求，而且还有更美妙的东西。
Narrator: : By the time Kittinger touched down, he had survived the longest free fall and the longest parachute jump ever, nearly 20 miles in a total of 13 minutes and 45 seconds.
旁白：：当基廷格着陆时，他已经完成了有史以来最长的自由落体和最长的跳伞，总共用时 13 分 45 秒，将近 20 英里。
He was hailed as a national hero, in a final tribute to the original space men.
他被誉为民族英雄，这是对最初的太空人的最后致敬。
Col.
上校
Joseph Kittinger, United States Air Force: : What we did on Manhigh and Excelsior were, were, just small, incremental bits of knowledge that were made possible by a team of people that were working and dedicating their lives for the future of the space program.
约瑟夫·基廷格（Joseph Kittinger），美国空军：我们在曼海伊号和埃克塞尔西尔号上所做的只是一点一点的增量知识，这些知识是由一群为太空计划的未来而工作并奉献一生的人们所实现的。
Francis French, Aerospace Historian: : Sending people into the upper atmosphere on a large balloon doesn't seem as incredible as leaving footsteps on the moon.
航空航天历史学家弗朗西斯·弗伦奇（Francis French）：：用大气球将人们送入高层大气似乎并不像在月球上留下足迹那么令人难以置信。
But America may not have gotten to the moon if it wasn't for pioneers like Stapp and Kittinger and Simons asking the questions that needed to be answered before we could get on with the business of flying in space.
但如果没有像斯塔普、基廷格和西蒙斯这样的先驱者提出我们在继续太空飞行业务之前需要回答的问题，美国可能还无法登上月球。
Mike Smith, Aerospace Engineer: : This was a good example of what a very small group of very dedicated, very focused people can do out of sheer will.
迈克·史密斯，航空航天工程师：这是一个很好的例子，说明一小群非常敬业、非常专注的人可以凭纯粹的意志做到什么。
Richard Holmes, Writer: : There is an absolute link from Icarus to the balloon to rockets.
理查德·霍姆斯（Richard Holmes），作家：：从伊卡洛斯到气球到火箭之间有着绝对的联系。
They are all part of one long stairway to the stars.
它们都是通往星星的长阶梯的一部分。
Before the days of NASA, scientists and researchers at the U.S. Air Force were testing the limits of how high man could fly.
在美国宇航局成立之前，美国空军的科学家和研究人员正在测试人类飞行高度的极限。
U.S. Air Force aviation doctor John Paul Stapp tested the limits of human physiology both on the ground and in near-space.
美国空军航空医生约翰·保罗·斯塔普在地面和近太空测试了人类生理学的极限。
Using spare parts and ingenuity, a tiny team assembled a capsule they hoped would carry a man to heights over 100,000 feet above the Earth's surface.
一个小团队利用备件和独创性组装了一个太空舱，他们希望能够将一个人带到距地球表面 100,000 英尺以上的高度。
Radioing he had "a ring-side view of the heavens," Air Force officer David G.
空军军官 David G. 在无线电中说，他“可以看到天空的环边景色”。
Simons made history in 1957 aboard his Manhigh II balloon.
1957 年，西蒙斯乘坐 Manhigh II 热气球创造了历史。
Beginning in 1783, balloonists risked their lives trying to view the Earth from a brand new vantage point.
从 1783 年开始，热气球飞行者冒着生命危险试图从一个全新的有利位置观察地球。
In the 1950s and '60s, Captain Joseph Kittinger was a test pilot for the U.S. Air Force's high altitude balloon experiments.
在 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代，约瑟夫·基廷格上尉是美国空军高空气球实验的试飞员。
In 1783, hot air balloons became the first viable option for people to explore the world from the sky.
1783年，热气球成为人们从空中探索世界的第一个可行选择。
Explore photos of high-altitude balloon experiments of the 1950s and '60s, and the researchers, scientists, and test pilots behind them.
探索 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代高空气球实验的照片，以及其背后的研究人员、科学家和试飞员。