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首只进入太空的猫将拥有自己的纪念雕塑(双语)
2017-11-27 10:02
来源:科学美国人
作者:
Animal astronauts have included monkeys, dogs, mice, and even fruit flies. Most are fondly remembered, except maybe the flies. Laika the dog has a monument in her honor in Moscow. Ham the chimpanzee is buried with a proper plaque at The International Space Hall Of Fame in New Mexico. So where is the love for Félicette?
曾进入太空的动物宇航员有猴子、狗、老鼠甚至果蝇,其中大多数都为人类所喜爱铭记(或许果蝇除外)。太空狗莱伊卡在莫斯科有属于自己的纪念碑;黑猩猩汉姆长眠于新墨西哥州的国际太空名人堂,墓旁立着牌匾。那么人们对于费莉切特这只猫的爱又体现在何处呢?
That’s what Matthew Serge Guy wants to know. He’s a creative director at the marketing agency Anomaly London. And he’s heading an effort to fund a statue for Félicette—the first cat in space.
马修·塞尔吉·盖伊是市场营销机构非凡创意公司伦敦分公司的创意总监,他想知道这个问题的答案。盖伊发起了一个众筹项目,为第一只太空猫费莉切特筹建雕像。
Félicette briefly strutted into headlines when she took her short flight in 1963. At the time, the effects of launches and weightlessness on the human body were still poorly understood. So, a group of French scientists decided to observe what happens to a floating cat.
1963年,费莉切特的短期太空之旅曾短暂地占据了报纸头条。彼时人们对于飞船发射期间以及进入失重状态对于人体的影响所知甚少。因此一个由法国科学家组成的研究小组决定将一只猫送上太空来观察这种影响。
Félicette was chosen from a group of 14 intensively space-trained cats. It was either her “calm” demeanor or sleek physique that made her the winner. She was hooked up with electrodes and rocketed to an altitude of nearly 100 miles. After experiencing weightlessness for about five minutes, she parachuted back down in a capsule. Researchers then observed her behavior for a few months, after which she was supposedly sacrificed for study of her brain.
费莉切特在14只接受严格训练的猫中脱颖而出,镇定的风度,优雅的外表或许是其胜出的关键。费莉切特身上连接着电极,并乘坐飞船达到海拔160.9公里的高度。费莉切特经历了五分钟失重状态,随后太空胶囊张开降落伞返回地面。随后的几个月中,研究人员观察了费莉切特的表现,而人们普遍认为费莉切特献身于对其脑部的研究。
Now, after all these years, Guy created a Kickstarter project that aims to raise nearly $53,000 to build a 1.5-meter bronze statue of Félicette in her hometown of Paris. The deadline is 3:01 A.M. Eastern time on Friday, November 17th. To find the Kickstarter page, just google Kickstarter and space cat.
多年后的今天,盖伊在Kickstarter平台上发起一个了众筹项目,打算募集53000美元为费莉切特在家乡巴黎修建一座1.5米高的青铜雕像。项目截止时间为东部时间11月17日星期五上午3:01。在谷歌上输入Kickstarter与太空猫即可找到筹款页面。
Donators are eligible for small prizes such as postcards and tote bags. And some larger ones such as recognition on a plaque near the statue. A broader aim of the project is to acknowledge all the animals that were shot into space as unwitting test subjects—a purr-fect opportunity for some credit.
捐款者有资格得到明信片和手提袋之类的小奖品,而捐赠数额较大的人可在雕像旁的牌匾上留名。所有在不知情情况下进入太空的动物实验对象都应获得认可,并有相同的机会获得荣誉,这是该项目意义更为深远的目标。