08 从未公开过的NASA宇航员训练照片

安格森：回顾这些照片，我相信我与这些宇航员的近距离接触，让我得以捕捉到他们之间独特的亲密，这种亲密是鲜为人知的。

全文共 400 个词， By John Angerson

In 1995, while I was working as a photographer, I had a chance meeting in Berlin with a producer who was filming a documentary about Nasa’s astronauts. I was asked to take some publicity shots, and of course I accepted. On December 6, I entered Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the same control centre that had made history with the Apollo moon landing in 1969.

1995 年，我在做摄影工作的时候，在柏林偶然遇到了一位制片人，他当时正在拍摄一部关于美国国家航空航天局（NASA）宇航员的纪录片。他请我帮忙拍摄一些宣传照，我欣然接受了这项工作。那年的12 月 6 日，我来到了位于得克萨斯州休斯顿市的约翰逊航天中心（Johnson Space Center）地面指挥中心——这就是在 1969 年阿波罗（Apollo）登月时创造了历史的那个地面指挥中心。

There were six astronauts preparing for mission STS-72, which would depart from Earth on the Endeavour Space Shuttle with an assignment to bring back a Japanese research spacecraft from orbit. Brian Duffy, a former Air Force pilot, was the mission’s commander.

当时有六名宇航员正在准备执行STS-72 任务，在此次任务中，他们将搭乘奋进号航天飞机（Endeavour Space Shuttle）从地球出发，执行将一个日本的研究航天器从轨道上回收的任务。前空军飞行员布赖恩·达菲（Brian Duffy）是此次任务的指挥官。

Over the next month, the film crew and I travelled between the Nasa space centres in Florida and Texas on numerous budget flights. The astronauts, on the other hand, made the commute in their personal Nasa T-38 supersonic jets. Many of the images I made were in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a large swimming pool where the astronauts took part in complex and dangerous training exercises simulating the weightlessness they would experience during space travel.

接下来的一个月里，摄制组和我无数次乘坐廉价航班，往返位于佛罗里达州和得克萨斯州的两个NASA航天中心。宇航员则是坐着他们自己的NASA T-38 超音速飞机往返两地。我的许多照片都是在中性浮力实验室（Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory）内拍摄的。这个实验室就是一个巨大的游泳池，宇航员在这里进行复杂而危险的训练，模拟他们将在太空旅行中经历的失重状态。

The crew were welcoming, albeit focused on the fast-approaching launch day and their demanding schedule. I was in a privileged position to observe this closely bonded group at a critical time in the history of the Space Shuttle programme. Each shuttle mission was plagued with technical issues and a constant battle with the US Congress to obtain the necessary funding. The programme cost an estimated $209bn over its 30-year history until it shut down in 2011.

航天中心的工作人员对我的拍摄表示欢迎，尽管他们的注意力都集中在即将到来的发射日和严苛的日程安排上。在美国航天飞机计划（Space Shuttle programme）的关键历史节点上，我有幸能在一旁观察这个关系紧密的团队。每一个飞行任务都受到技术问题的困扰，他们还要不断与美国国会作斗争，以争取到必要的资金。在美国航天飞机计划于 2011 年关闭之前的 30 年中，据估计它总共耗资 2090 亿美元。

The photographs depict the camaraderie of the team; I found their company relaxed and good-humoured. Mission specialist Daniel T Barry was affectionately called Doctor Doctor because of his two doctorates; Koichi Wakata was known simply as The Man.

这些照片记录了整个团队的同志情谊，我也觉得跟他们待在一起轻松愉快。任务专家丹尼尔·T·巴里（Daniel T Barry）因为有两个博士学位，获得了“博士博士（Doctor Doctor）”的爱称。而若田光一（KoichiWakata）则被简单地称为“那个人（The Man）”。

My initial run of photos from the STS-72 project was used in the television listings pages of magazines and newspapers when the documentary was released in 1996. I revisited the work this year during lockdown and found many images I had overlooked that are now being seen for the first time. Furthermore, while researching the mission history at the US National Archives, I uncovered hundreds of pictures taken by the STS-72 crew in Earth’s orbit.

我为STS-72 项目拍摄的照片首次展示，是在这部纪录片于 1996 年发行时，当时这些照片被用在杂志和报纸的电视节目指南页上。今年疫情封锁期间，我重新翻看这套作品，第一次发现了许多之前被我忽略了的照片。此外，当我在美国国家档案馆（US National Archives）研究这段任务的历史时，我发现了数百张由STS-72 机组人员在地球轨道上拍摄的照片。

Twenty-five years on, reflecting on these images, I believe my access allowed me to capture a unique intimacy among the astronauts that is rarely seen.

25 年过去了，回顾这些照片，我相信我与这些宇航员的近距离接触，让我得以捕捉到他们之间独特的亲密，这种亲密是鲜为人知的。