Shannon Lucid--The Record-Smashing Space Pioneer

Shannon Lucid--The Record-Smashing Space Pioneer

香农·露西德——打破纪录的太空先驱者

When Shannon Lucid, 53-year-old shuttle veteran, landed on Sept. 26, 1996, she had amassed 223 days in orbit since 1985, making her America’s most experienced astronaut. Besting Russian cosmonaut Elena Kondakova, Lucid had also set the women’s record for consecutive days in orbit (188).

Lucid shared her 67 million-mile mission with two male cosmonauts aboard Russian space station Mir. The Russian space station Mir. The Russian station is a cluster of six cramped, camper-size pods, with most of the living space devoted to labs. Personnel sleep in curtained, closet-like enclosures at the end of one pod; when it comes time for a shower, they must get by with space shampoo and a tepid sponge bath. Spartan as Mir is, its science facilities are first rate, and Lucid, biochemists, spent much of her time aloft studying how the space environment affects living tissue and how protein crystals grow in zero gravity.

While the orbital research she conducted had value, the real test subject was Lucid. Now she’s a living science project as doctors track her every vital sign, gauging the effects of long-term space flight. So far, Lucid is experiencing few ill effects. “She’s like a space superwoman,” says astronaut Carl Walz. Her great crisis throughout the trip? A shortage of M & Ms, which together with potato chips and novels were ferried to her via space capsules. Of course there were benefits to the trek. “A friend called,” Lucid reports, “and said, ‘You didn’t have to pay a single bill, did you?’”

It’s no surprise that Lucid is a trouper. Born to Baptist missionaries in World War IItorn Shanghai, she spent her first year of life in a Japanese prison camp. The family later settled in Oklahoma, where Lucid earned her pilot’s license at 17. She grew up to be a biochemist and one of NASA’s charter class (‘78) of female astronauts. Yet to her husband Mike and their three grown children, she’s just a working stiff with a nasty commute. With preflight training she had scarcely seen her family for two years, though she was in touch via E-mail with them. Teleconferences were arranged so family members could not only hear familiar voices but also see familiar faces.

Will Lucid fly again? Her family seems to think so. “When she gets back to Earth,” says her father, “she’ll be like a tire that’s ready to be rethreaded.”

当面53岁的宇航老将香农·露西德于1996年9月26日降落在地球上，她自1985年以来已完成了223天的太空飞行。她因而成为美国最有经验的宇航员。她还打败了俄国的女宇航员叶列娜·康达科娃，创造了妇女在太空连续飞行的新记录（188天）。

露西德与两位男宇航员乘俄国的太空站“米尔”共行程6700万英里。俄国的这个太空站由6个狭窄的，类似露营帐篷大小的机舱组成，大部分生活空间都用于做实验室。工作人员睡在机舱末端挂有窗帘、像壁橱一样的一块地方。洗澡时，他们只能凑合着用太空香波和温热的海绵擦身。“米尔”太空站的条件虽然艰苦，但它的科学设备却是一流的。露西德这位生物化学家用她在太空站上的大部分时间在研究太空环境如何影响生物组织以及蛋白质晶体在失重状况下如何生长。

她进行的太空研究自然很有价值，但露西德自身却是真正的实验对象。现在她是一个活生生的科学项目。医生们跟踪研究她的每一个生命特征，测定长期太空飞行对人体所产生的影响。到目前为止，露西德没有任何不良反应。“她像一名太空超人，”宇航员卡尔·华尔兹说。露西德在整个航程中遇到的最大困难是什么？缺少M&M巧克力。M&M巧克力同土豆片及小说是通过太空密闭舱输送给露西德的。当然此次航行也许多好处。露西德说：“一个朋友打电话问，‘你在太空上什么帐单都不需要付，是不是？’”

露西德成为一名有经验的宇航员并不令人吃惊。她出生于被二战践踏的上海的浸礼会牧师之家。她生命的第一年是在日本集中营度过的。她全家后来在俄克拉何马定居下来，在那儿露西德17岁就拿到飞行员执照。她成长为一名生物化学家，也是美国国家航空天局78届女宇航员之一。但在她的丈夫迈克和三个已长大成人的孩子眼中，露西德是个总不能按期归家的工作狂。飞行前的训练使她有两年都没见到家人，但她通过电子邮件与他们保持联系。另外电话会议的安排使家庭成员不仅能听到熟悉的声音而且可以看到熟悉的面容。

露西德还会再飞吗？她的家人都认为她会的。她的父亲说：“她一回到地面，就像只轮胎一样准备再踏旅程。”