美國要在月球建立永久基地
Fifty years after America first landed men on the moon, it’s long past time we established a permanent U.S. base there – and shelve far more costly plans to land astronauts on Mars for at least the next two or three decades.
距美國首次把人送上月球已過去50年，我們很久以前就在那裏建立了一個永久性的美國基地，讓宇航員登上火星這樣更爲昂貴的計劃至少二三十年內都還實現不了。
America’s national security and economic security demand a permanent U.S. moon base.
美國的國家安全和經濟安全要求要有一個永久的美國月球基地。
In sharp contrast, sending astronauts to Mars would amount to an incredibly expensive and risky photo op that simply wouldn’t provide the benefit to justify the cost.
與此形成鮮明對比的是，將宇航員送上火星只是一個極其昂貴又冒險的拍照機會，創造的利益根本不值得如此付出。
As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing Saturday, we need to accept the reality that our country has many priorities requiring large amounts of federal spending.
週六我們爲阿波羅11號登月50週年紀念做準備，有一個需要接受的事實，那就是我們國家有很多需要大量聯邦開支的優先事項。
Our space program is important, but it’s unrealistic to expect federal officials to take a “money is no object” view of spending on space exploration.
我們的太空計劃很重要，但針對太空探索想要聯邦政府拿出“錢不是問題”的態度是不現實的。
So like a family setting spending priorities – saving for college tuition instead of a luxury car or an expensive cruise – our elected officials need to concentrate on spending on a moon base today and leave a manned mission to Mars for the next generation or the one after that.
就像家庭消費優先項是攢大學學費，而不是買豪車或坐豪華遊輪一樣，我們選舉出來的政府現在需要把錢花在月球基地上，而把人送上火星的任務還是留給下一代或再下一代去完成吧。
While researching my first book, I had the high honor to interview all 12 courageous astronauts who walked on the moon. After that, I spent parts of three years working on various space issues for the Defense Department. And later I served as a consultant to a private-sector space firm and the U.S. government for over a decade.
寫第一本書時我很榮幸採訪了12位在月球上行走過的勇敢的宇航員。那之後的三年中一部分時間我在爲國防部處理各種太空問題，後來又做了十多年私人航天公司和美國政府的顧問。
The most important lesson I learned during all those years is that space is a hostile and unforgiving environment and that every single taxpayer dollar spent on space exploration is precious and must be allocated to missions that directly benefit the American people.
這些年我學到的最重要一課就是太空是一個充滿敵意和無情的環境，花在太空探索上的每一分納稅人的錢都很寶貴，一定要用在能直接造福美國人民的任務上。
