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Lesson 1 Modern heroes National Hero Chin’s first manned spaceship lifted off at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, October 15th, 2003 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province. The spaceship, called ShenzhouV, was carrying China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei. Yang, who was a pilot in the army, was chosen from 1,500 other army pilots and started training for his space flight in 1998. The launch was very successfu l. “When the spaceship was lifting off, I could really feel the high gravity”, said Yang Liwei. “When the spaceship separated from the rocket, I suddenly got a feeling of soar ing into the sky because of the zero gravity.” During the 21-hour space flight, the Shenzhou V circled the earth 14 times. While the spaceship was circling the earth for the sixth time, Yang Liwei spoke with ground control in Gansu. He was also able to speak with his wife and 8-year-old son. Yang Liwei had several tasks to complete during the flight and only slept in the spaceship for about 3 hours. While he was sleeping, the spaceship circled the earth twice. When the spaceship was doing its seventh circle, Yang Liwei showed the flags of China and the United Nations, expressing the wishes of the Chinese people to explore and use space peacefully. At 6:23 a.m. on October 16th, Yang Liwei landed in Inner Mongolia safely. He told reporter s later, “The surface of the spaceship was glow ing red when it came back into the earth’s atmosphere. When ShenzhouV let out its parachute, I felt the ship was shaking.” As Yang Liwei returned into the earth’s atmosphere, helicopter s were flying to where he would land, ready to collect him. Millions of people all over China were watching TV when the spaceship landed safely. When Yang Liwei climbed out of the spaceship, he smiled and wave d to the crowds waiting for him. Yang Liwei was happy to be home but he said, “I thought 21 hours was too short to stay in space.” 民族英雄 中国第一次载人飞船于2003年10月15日星期三早上九点在甘肃酒泉发射。名为神舟五号的飞船搭载着中国第一名从1500名空军士兵中挑选出来的已从1998开始太空飞行训练的航天员杨利伟。 发射过程是非常地成功。“当太空飞船发射时,我还可以感受到明显的重力,”杨利伟说:“但当飞船与火箭分离时,我突然就有一种腾飞上空的感觉,因为那时重力已经是零了。” 在21小时的太空飞行过程中,神舟五号共绕地球14周。在绕地飞行第六周时,杨利伟通过甘肃的地面控制与大家对话。他还同他的妻子和八岁的儿子进行了对话。杨利伟在飞行过程中需要完成很多项任务,所以他在飞船上只有3小时睡觉。当他在睡觉时,飞船又绕行了地球两周。 在飞船绕地第七周时,杨利伟通过向我们展示了中国和联合国的旗帜,表达了中国群众对和平开发利用太空的共同愿望。 10月16日6时23分,杨利伟在内蒙古安全降落。杨利伟回到地球大气层时,直升飞机就会飞到他将降落的位置,准备去接住他。他在之后告诉记者:“在飞船回到地球大气层时它的表层已经开始变红。在神五放出它的降落伞时,我感受到它在摇晃。” 中国上百万的人在飞船安全降落时都看着电视的播报。当杨利伟从飞船中出来,他微笑着并向等候着他的人挥手。杨利伟很高兴自己回到了家,说:“我认为在太空21小时是最短的时间不过了。” |
