导读：美国当地时间8月21日，美国民众期盼已久的日全食如期而至。此次日全食是1918年以来第一个横跨美国全境的日全食，同时也是1979年以来第一次可在美国本土观测的日全食。本篇文章报道时特朗普还未表示是否会观看日食。而日食并不只是一种天文现象，更是代表人类最后一片新领域——太空。
特朗普会注意日全食吗？
译者：康馨迪
校对：倪凌晖
策划：刘 璠
本文选自 The Atlantic
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Will Trump Take Notice of the Eclipse?
特朗普会注意日全食吗？
Just a week shy of 40 years ago, humanity’s emissary to the stars left this planet for a journey through the solar system. The twin Voyager spacecraft carry a shimmering golden record which, if placed on a phonograph, will play the sound of laughter and language and life on Earth. The record was accompanied by a message from the president.
还有一周就到了美国成功实施旅行者计划的40周年，当时人类探索星球的使者离开地球，开始了探索太阳系的旅程。这两个姐妹探测器都携带了一张镀金唱片，放在留声机上会播放出我们的笑声、语言以及地球生命的声音，同时唱片上还有一条来自时仁美国总统吉米·卡特（Jimmy Carter）的留言。
“We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation-states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization,” President Jimmy Carter wrote.
“我们是一个具有2.4亿人类生命的集体，与居住在地球上的40亿人类共同生存着。我们人类现在仍以国家划分，但是这些国家正在迅速地成为一个单一而又综合的文明世界。”
The record and the spacecraft are likely to survive a billion years into our future, Carter’s letter continued. The Voyagers will sail through interstellar space long after we are gone, long after Earth is gone, long into futures unimagined. If someone intercepts one, the president said, the message they should hear is this:
卡特在信中还写到：唱片和探测器很可能在未来的10亿年中长存。在我们无法想象的未来，甚至在人类消失、地球消亡之后，旅行者号将会穿越星际空间。如果有人拦截到了其中一个，他们将会听到以下消息：
“We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.”
我们正努力延续时光，以期能与你们相见。我们期望总有一天，解决了我们面对的难题后，能置身于银河文明中。这份信息将把我们的希望、我们的决心、我们的善意传遍广袤而又令人敬畏的宇宙。
The journey of the Voyagers, like the landing of the Mars rovers or the death spiral of the Cassini spacecraft, still occasions poetic calls to a higher cosmic purpose. This is one reason political leaders like to talk about space. It represents the future itself, and the last place to chart something new, to explore the way our
forebears
did, to follow
the urge written into our foundational ethos. President Trump does not talk much about science, but when he does, he invokes space.
与火星漫步者的成功着陆和卡西尼号的死亡螺旋一样，旅行者号的旅程激发出人类对探索宇宙的渴望。这也正是政治领导人喜欢谈论太空的原因之一。它代表了未来，代表了最后一片新领域。在这片位置的空间，我们将以
祖先
的探索方式追寻我们灵魂深处的渴望。特朗普总统不常谈论科学，但当他谈论时，他就会提及太空。（译者注：探测器卡西尼号于2017年4月26日正式进入任务“大结局”，美国航天局决定让卡西尼号开始“死亡螺旋”，即让它坠落在火星上并在2017年4月27日成功穿越土星光环的环缝区域，这是人类探测器史上首次，此前，从没有仪器距离土星这么近，危险系数极高。）
forebear
['fɔrbɛr] n. a person in your family who lived a long time ago 祖先；祖宗
To date, Trump has not spoken publicly about the eclipse. Rumors about a possible presidential visit have swept through states along the eclipse path, such as Missouri, where state lawmakers have been buzzing about it all week. But on Thursday a spokesman for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said there was no Trump visit in the works. A White House spokesman confirmed via email to The Atlantic Thursday that the administration has no travel plans at the moment.
到目前为止，特朗普还没有公开谈论过有关这次日食的事情。而关于总统访问的传言已经传遍了日食带的各个州。其中就包括密苏里州（Missouri）—该州的议员们已经就此讨论了整整一周。但是在本周四，密苏里州州长埃里克·格里森（Eric Greitens）的发言人表示在州政府的工作安排上，并没有特朗普到访的计划。当日，一位白宫发言人再发给本报的邮件中确认现在政府还没有相关的出行计划。
By contrast, governors of states along the eclipse path are using it as an opportunity to promote tourism, and to share in the excitement. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead called his state the best place to watch the eclipse. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said her state is “more than ready.”
与特朗普不同，日食带上的各州州长都对此次日食兴奋不已，他们想要借此发展当地的旅游业。怀俄明州（Wyoming）州长马特•米德（Matt Mead）称该州是最适合观看日食的地方。俄勒冈州（Oregon）州长凯特·布朗（Kate Brown）说她们州已经做了十足的准备。
The Trump administration has not been heralded for its support of science. The president has not appointed a science adviser, nor has he named chiefs for key scientific agencies like NASA and NOAA. But the eclipse is not merely a scientific event. Millions of people will be traveling this weekend, cramming into a ribbony swath of the continent just 70 miles wide. They will be hoping to catch a cosmic spectacle that has not graced this territory anywhere since 1979, and has not crossed its heart since 1918. For just two minutes, the sun, the giver of all life, will blink out. This terrifying, strange experience could serve as a necessary bit of perspective. It would be so easy to mark the moment with
conciliation
, so sorely needed in a country darkened by shadows much longer and deeper than the one the moon will throw down
next week.
特朗普政府还没表示过对科学的支持。总统还没委派一名科学顾问，也没任命美国航空航天局（NASA）和美国国家海洋和大气局（NOAA）这样重要科学机构的负责人。但是日食并不只是一个科学事件。本周末将有几百万人涌向这片大约70英里宽的带状区域。他们想要见证这一无与伦比宇宙奇观。此次日食是自1979年来第一次可以在美国本土观测的日食。它同时也是自1918年来，第一个横跨美国境内的日全食。在短短两分钟内，万物之母太阳将会从人们的眼前消失。而这种可怕而又罕见的日食经历或许能够为美国人民带来那么一点理性思考的能力。我们很容易就能用“
和解
”来标注这一时刻。“和解”对这个国家来说实在太需要了。这份黑暗要比下周将来临的日食更加深邃，更佳持久。
conciliation
[kən'sɪlɪ'eʃən] n. the process of trying to get people to stop arguing and agree 说服; 调解
Trump would hardly be the first world leader to take part in such a rare marvel. Presidents and kings alike have long paid attention to eclipses, and marked them as omens, expressions of power, and moments of unity.
特朗普并不是第一个经历这种奇迹的世界领导人。各个总统和女王早已对日食现象加以关注，并将其视为一种预兆。这是展现力量的时刻同时也是人类应该团结的时刻。
In 2006, a total eclipse crossed the Libyan desert, and the government erected a tent city on the eclipse path some 300 miles south of Benghazi. Most eclipse chasers set off from that city, and the roads soon swelled with traffic, causing delays of several hours. As eclipse tourists poured into the tent city, a helicopter thundered overhead. It circled the camp and landed on the
outskirts
. A man wearing a dark green uniform, red epaulets, and dark sunglasses emerged. Eclipse chasers say this was Muammar Qaddafi, who came to watch the eclipse with at least one of his sons.
在2006，利比亚沙漠地区出现了全日食，政府在班加西以南大约300英里的日食带上搭建了一个帐篷城。大多数日食观察者从班加西城出发，道路很快拥堵起来，导致了几小时的延误。当日食观察者涌进帐篷城时，一辆直升飞机在头上轰鸣，盘旋在营地上空，最终落在
市郊
。一个穿着深绿色制服，肩上红色臂章，带着墨镜的男人出现在人们面前。日食观察者们说他是穆哈迈尔·卡扎菲（Muammar Qaddafi），他至少带了一个儿子来观看日食。
outskirts
['aʊt'skɝts] n. the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre (市镇的)边缘地带；市郊
Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist and eclipse chaser, was there. Someone from Qaddafi’s entourage was looking for him; Espenak is so well-known in eclipse circles that his nickname is “Mr. Eclipse.” “I said, I’m not responding. I don’t want to get involved,” Espenak told me earlier this summer. “I could see them saying, ‘you’re going to be our personal astronomer,’ and I wanted nothing to do with that.”
美国航天局天体物理学家，同时也是日食爱好者的弗雷德·伊斯本力（Fred Espenak）也去了利比亚观看日食。他在日食圈名声甚大，被称作“日食先生”。所以卡扎菲的一个随行人员当时尝试寻找他。伊斯本力在今夏早些时候告诉本报记者：“我没有回应他们。我不想和他们有牵连。而且我都能猜到他们要对我说’你将是我们的私人天文学家‘，但是我可不想做什么私人天文学家。”
