Peggy Whitson THE ULTIMATE ASTRONAUT
佩吉·惠特森，终极宇航员
BY THOMAS PESQUET
托马斯·佩斯凯
(Time Notes: Pesquet is a French aerospace engineer and European Space Agency astronaut)
(注：佩斯凯是法国的一名航空航天工程师，也是欧洲航天局的一名宇航员)
An astronaut doesn’t scare easily.
宇航员是不会轻易被惊吓到的。
Yet when I learned that I would partner with Peggy Whitson,
但当我得知我的首次太空之旅就是和佩吉·惠特森搭档时，
the first female chief of the NASA astronaut office, for my inaugural trip to space,
她是NASA宇航员办公室的第一位女性主管，
I felt an unusual tinge of pressure.
我还是感觉到了超出寻常的压力。
I would have to meet a very high professional standard—that’s what her name means in the astronaut community.
我必须要达到非常高的职业标准——因为她的名字在宇航员圈子里就意味着这一点。
I could only imagine the challenges she had to overcome,
我只能靠想象才能体会得到她必须克服的那些挑战——
moving from a farm in rural Iowa to academia to the International Space Station,
从爱荷华州农村的一个农场到学术界再到国际空间站，
cracking through the glass ceiling with every step.
她走过的每一步都是在突破当时的玻璃天花板。
As we trained together—
我们一起受训的时候——
in a simulator in Russia, out in the wild for a survival exercise, underwater or in a jet—
在俄罗斯的一个模拟装置里，在野外，水下或在飞机上，进行生存训练——
I got to know Peggy up close.
我得以近距离地了解了佩吉。
She is by far the most hardworking and strong-willed person I’ve ever met.
她是我所见过的最勤奋、最坚强的人。
She never accepts limitations.
她从不接受限制。
And she’s a genuinely good person: passionate but kind, fearless but gentle,
也是一个由衷的好人：她热情而善良，无畏而温柔，
with all the heart you want a leader to have, in order to follow her into battle.
还有着你希望能跟随她战斗的领导人的所有特质。
It’s no wonder that Peggy has almost single-handedly redeined the role of women in space exploration.
所以，她能勉强做到凭一己之力拯救女性在太空探索中的角色也就不足为奇了。
She is now the most successful astronaut in the history of the United States,
现如今，她是美国历史上最成功的宇航员了，
having spent a record-breaking 665 cumulative days in space
在太空中累计度过了破纪录的665天时间，
and contributing to hundreds of scientific experiments while she was there.
并在那期间为数百项科学实验做出了不小的贡献。
I’m proud to consider Peggy a mentor and friend.
能视她为我的良师益友，我感到十分自豪。
And as I watch her legacy unfold,
看到她留给世人的精神财富继续流传，
and I see the looks on little girls’ faces when she speaks and the diference in their lives that she’s making,
看到她说话时小女孩们脸上的表情，以及她对小女孩儿们的生活的影响，
it reminds me that, yes, one can change history and make Earth a better place by going to space,
这些都提醒着我，是的，人是可以通过太空改变历史，让地球变得更加美好的，
because that’s what Peggy has achieved.
因为佩吉就做到了。
