US space tourist Charles Simonyi returned safely to Earth on April 21, 2007 after paying for a two-week round trip ticket to the International Space Station.
Simonyi, 58, is best known for being the father of Microsoft Word. He was the fifth space tourist since the first trip by a civilian1 tourist in 2001. He also got the most for his $25 million ticket—his flight was the longest yet.
“The hundreds of questions I’ve already received from children around the world on my Web site are very mature and intelligent,” Simonyi said in a statement. “It’s clear that today’s young people are eager to learn about space and space travel, and it is great!”
Here are some of them.
Q: Was it worthwhile?
A: It was absolutely worthwhile. It was great, just so much detail, so much rich, fascinating stuff.
Q: What was most interesting to you, the mechanics of the flight or the flight itself?
A: It all goes together. To me... it’s that understanding of what’s going on. I said look, it’s just like opera lovers who go to an opera with a score in their hand so they can follow what’s going on. Of course, I was a viewer—I wasn’t on the stage. I was looking from the side, but I had a score in my hand and I knew what was going on and that made it so much more interesting.
Q: Is it hard to swallow2 in the space?
A: Try to swallow while you are upside down. For example, lie down so that your head is lower than your stomach. Doing it in weightlessness3 is easier than that, because we do not have to fight gravity4. You really do not notice the difference.
Q: Were you ever scared?
A: No. I didn’t expect to be. I had fears of failure, of preparation. I certainly did that. But in terms of5 when we were launching, I was probably the calmest all day.
Q: Do you now wish you had become a cosmonaut6 instead of a computer scientist?
A: I can’t go that far. My calling7 is in computers and that’s where my strengths are. I didn’t go in expecting that somehow I’d become a cosmonaut. These guys are doing stuff8 that is much more demanding9 than I was doing.
Q: Does it feel different or strange, being back on Earth?
A: It was at the very beginning, but now, I tell you, there was a strange moment. I had a catnap10 on the Soyuz because we had a very long day. So I just had a very short nap and I had a dream, just a normal dream of having some problems with the flight suit on the ground. Oleg woke me up, shook me, because we had to do something. So I finally woke up from this dream and found myself in a spacecraft11, a very small spacecraft. I was completely confused. The dream was very normal and real, and reality was very strange and real.
Q: Can you wear contact lenses in space? Do all professional astronauts have to have perfect vision?
A: Yes, you can wear contacts. I know several astronauts who do. Many others wear eyeglasses. I got my reading glasses for the flight at an optometrist12 in Houston where the astronauts go. My glasses are really strong. I accidentally sat on them once, and they did not break!
Q: Which do you like better, being on the Earth or being in space?
A: It is great up here, but I think I will appreciate the Earth even more after I return.
Q: Can I see the International Space Station from Earth using my telescope?
A: You can see the ISS with the naked eye, like a bright star. It moves much too fast to follow with your telescope. But some experienced amateur astronomers13 have taken pictures of the ISS with telescopes—one famous picture that captured the ISS flying in front of the sun disk. (Don’t try this at home—telescopes and the sun definitely do not mix)
美国太空游客查尔斯·西蒙尼支付了为期2周的往返国际空间站的费用，并于2007年4月21日安全返回地球。
西蒙尼现年58岁，作为微软文字处理系统Word的创始人而闻名于世，他是继2001年首位平民游客登上太空后的第五个太空游客。他支付了2500万美元，也享受到最多的待遇，他的旅行时间迄今为止最长。
“我从我的网站上收到好几百个来自世界各地孩子们提出的问题，他们的问题很成熟，也充满了智慧。”西蒙尼在一项声明中说，“很清楚，今天年轻一代渴望了解太空和太空旅行，这是了不起的事情！”
下面是其中的一些问题。
问：花这么多钱遨游太空，值得吗？
答：绝对值得。太空旅行太棒了，有那么多的细节，那么多丰富、迷人的东西！
问：什么你觉得最有趣：是飞行的技术性细节还是飞行本身？
答：两者是密切联系的。对我而言，最有趣的是了解事情发展全过程。我说，你瞧，这就像歌剧爱好者带着一本乐谱去看歌剧一样，这样他们可以了解剧情的进展情况。当然，我是一位观众，我不在舞台上，我是从旁边观看的，但我手里有本乐谱，我知道剧情发展情况，这样观看起来就更加有趣。
问：在太空，吞咽很困难吗？
答：你先尝试一下在倒立的状态下吞咽，比如躺下让头比肚子低。在失重的情况下，吞咽要比那样容易得多，因为我们不必克服引力的影响。实际上，不管什么姿势，你感觉不到吞咽有什么不同。
问：你害怕过吗？
答：没有，我没想过。我担心过失败，担心过准备不足，我当然会那样。真到了发射升空时，却可能是我全天最平静的时候。
问：你现在希望自己是位宇航员而不是计算机科学家吗？
答：我不可能走到那一步。我的事业是计算机，那是我的强项。我没有指望自己成为一位宇航员，他们所从事的工作比我所从事的工作要求要高得多。
问：返回到地面，你感觉到不同或者奇怪吗？
答：说实话，刚开始的时候，但不是现在，有感觉奇怪的时刻。我在联盟号飞船上小睡了一会儿，因为我们度过了漫长的一天。我打了个盹，还做了个梦，一个很普通的梦，梦见在地面上我的飞行服出了一些问题。奥列格把我叫醒，因为我们有事情得做。我从梦中醒来，发现自己在这么小的飞行舱里，我完全迷糊了。我做的梦很正常、很真实，而现实却非常奇怪、也非常真实。
问：在太空可以戴隐形眼镜吗？是不是所有的职业宇航员都必须视力很好？
答：是的，可以戴隐形眼镜，我就认识几个戴隐形眼镜的宇航员，其他很多宇航员戴一般眼镜。 我为这次旅行准备了一副老花镜，我是在休斯敦配的，宇航员们都去那儿。我的眼镜很结实，一次我不小心坐在它上面，居然没有破。
问：你更喜欢呆在哪里，是太空还是地球？
答：呆在太空这儿还不错，但是我想在我返回地球后，我会更欣赏地球的。
问：我可以在地球上通过望远镜看到国际空间站吗？
答：你可以用肉眼看见国际空间站，它像一个明亮的星星一样。它移动的速度太快，你无法用望远镜跟踪它，但是一些有经验的天文爱好者用望远镜拍下了国际空间站的照片，其中一张著名的照片抓拍到国际空间站飞过太阳表面的情景。（不要在家里这样做，望远镜和太阳是绝对不相容的。）
1. civilian n. 平民，老百姓
2. swallow v. 吞，咽
3. weightlessness n. 失重
4. gravity n. 引力
5. in terms of... 就…而言
6. cosmonaut n. 宇航员
7. calling n. 职业，行业，事业
8. stuff n. 东西，事情
9. demanding adj. 要求苛刻的
10. catnap n. 小睡, 小憩
11. spacecraft n. 宇宙飞船
12. optometrist n. 验光配镜师
13. astronomer n. 天文学家