Astronauts

   随着“神舟6号”的顺利升空，我国在航空航天技术上又向前迈进了一步。杨利伟、费俊龙、聂海胜都是我国优秀的宇航员，同时也是我们的民族英雄。想知道他们在宇宙飞船起飞前是如何刻苦训练的吗？想知道他们在飞船起飞后又要克服哪些困难吗？请看下文……
    If you were an astronaut up in space, you would find life very strange. You wouldn’t be able to walk, because in space you can’t keep your feet on the floor. You couldn’t drink, either, because drinks don’t pour in space. And you would have to sleep strapped(扎上安全带) in your bed to stop yourself from floating away.
    Imagine(设想) you are an astronaut about to set out on a space mission(任务). （想象一下自己是一个身处即将发射的太空船内）Before you set out, you have to train hard, rehearsing(演习) the work you will carry out in orbit. You spend a lot of time in simulators(模拟器). They are machines that behave in the same way as your spacecraft does without leaving the ground. You go over and over the details(细节) of your trip with mission control, the centre that controls missions from the ground.
    When it is time for the launch,（发射） you strap yourself into your seat, facing away from the ground. As the launch rockets fire, you feel yourself flattened（变平） against the seat. Your body feels much heavier than usual. This is because of the forces set up as the rocket accelerates(加速). They are called g-forces, the g standing for gravity(重力).
    Once the rockets stop firing and you are circling the earth in orbit,（轨道） your body no longer feels heavy. If you unstrap（解开皮带） yourself, you float gently out of your seat. It seems that your body has no weight at all! We call this special state zero-g, （零重力）or weightlessness.
    Weightlessness affects everything you do in orbit. It’s best not to eat crumbly(脆的) foods, because the crumbs will float away and get into everything. You have to drink liquids through a straw（吸管） because there is no gravity to make them pour.