British Astronaut Says He Has A Spectacular Life up in Space

From CRIENGLISH.com

Struggling to conquer weightlessness['wetlɪsnɪs][失重；无重状态], British astronaut Tim Peake described his "spectacular[spɛk'tækjəlɚ][壮观的，惊人的；公开展示的] life" in space during a live video-link with journalists[与记者视频连线直播] gathered in Cologne in Germany.

He says his first impressions of space[对太空的第一印象] go way beyond his expectations[超乎想象/预期].

"The most unexpected thing, I think, was the blackness of space[黑暗的太空]. Because we always talk about seeing the view of planet Earth and how beautiful it is and so you come to expect that. But what people don't mention that much is just when you look the opposite direction[换个角度来看/相反方向] and you see how dark space is - I mean it's the blackest black and you realise just how small the Earth is in that blackness[在黑暗中地球是多么的渺小]."

Tim Peake [File Photo: guancha.cn]

Peake is employed by the European Space Agency[欧洲宇航局] and is scheduled to[预定，预期] spend almost six months on board the ISS[国际空间站International Space Station]. The former helicopter pilot[直升机飞行员] is excited by his mission, saying they have a very busy half-year ahead.

"We've got a very busy schedule. Both with the science programme, the visiting vehicles as well, we currently have a sickness vehicle docked which we are unpacking. That is taking a lot of time to unpack[卸下;打开包裹] that. Preparations for potential space walks[太空行走] are ongoing. And of course with the future space X-vehicle that come up, there will be even more science onboard that, too. So, plenty of work to do over the next 6 months."

He also said he expected to get the chance to watch the new Star Wars[星球大战] film next week with his colleagues[同事；同行] up in the space.

"We are very excited about the Star Wars[星球大战] movie. I think we're all fans up here and I believe that on the 21st we may get to see that up here on the Space Station[空间站，太空站], so a little bit later than everybody else but hey what a spectacular[spɛk'tækjəlɚ][壮观的，惊人的；引人入胜的公开展示的] place to watch Star Wars[星球大战]."

Peake blasted off[点火起飞；发射升空] for the ISS on a Soyuz[联盟号] spacecraft on Tuesday with his two fellow astronauts.

43 year old Peake is a former army major[少校], and the first astronaut representing[代表] the British government to wear a Union Jack flag[英国国旗；联合王国国旗] on his arm.

The first Briton in space was Helen Sharman, who travelled on a Soviet[苏联] spacecraft for eight days back in 1991.

For CRI, this is Fei Fei.