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.

妙語佳句，活學活用

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，美國弗羅里達州東部。

3. Scrub

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

4. Stick with

這個片語也寫作 stick to，在口語中表示“堅持做(某事)”，例如：They stuck with us through all our difficulties.

 

文化面面觀   Apollo Lunar Module 阿波羅登月艙

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