設計師爲日本女宇航員打造時尚太空服
The latest creation by Japanese fashion designer Tae Ashida is truly out of this world -- an outfit twinning a blue cardigan and shorts made for astronaut Naoko Yamazaki.
The US space shuttle Discovery blasted off on Monday with Yamazaki and two other female crew on board, bound for the International Space Station (ISS) on a historic mission that put more women in orbit than ever before.
Ahead of her departure, Yamazaki, 39, asked Ashida, daughter of fashion guru Jun Ashida, to design her work clothes for the 13-day space mission and she came up with a slim knit cardigan in light blue with navy blue shorts.
"As a female designer, I chose a design and colour with a sense of grace ... so that she can feel at ease as she carries out a tough mission in a male-dominated, bleak atmosphere," Ashida said on Wednesday.
"It's like a dream come true to see my clothes worn in space," said Ashida. "I'm looking forward to seeing her wear my design."
Yamazaki also brought a miniature version of the traditional Japanese harp, known as a koto, to the station to play an ensemble with her countryman Soichi Noguchi, who has carried his Japanese flute to the station.
Yamazaki asked a Japanese musical instrument factory to make a miniature version of the koto, which usually measures about 1.8 metres (six feet), to meet the size limit for her space shuttle cabin luggage.
"The sound is quite different from that of an authentic one, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing her play the koto in space," said instrument maker Kenzo Ogawa, who produced the mini harp.
Japan's astronauts have shown a penchant for space entertainment in the past.
Last year Koichi Wakata performed a series of zero-gravity challenges, including testing a "flying carpet", folding laundry and using eye drops in the ISS, videos of which were posted online by the Japanese space agency.
日本時裝設計師蘆田多惠的最新作品堪稱真正的“超凡出世”，她爲宇航員山崎奈緒子設計了一套太空工作服，上身是一件藍色無領開衫，下身搭配一條短褲。
本週一，山崎和其他兩名女宇航員搭乘美國“發現號”航天飛機飛往國際空間站，此次太空之旅具有歷史性意義，因爲執行此次飛行任務的女宇航員數量是有史以來最多的。
在前往太空之前，39歲的山崎請時裝設計大師蘆田淳的女兒蘆田多惠爲她13天的太空之行設計一套工作服。蘆田多惠爲她設計了一件修身的淡藍色開衫，下身搭配一條海藍色的短褲。
蘆田多惠於週三稱：“作爲一名女設計師，我選擇的設計風格和顏色有一種典雅之感，這樣她在一個男性爲主的、沉悶的環境中執行艱鉅的任務時會感到很自在。”
蘆田說：“看見自己設計的衣服穿在宇航員身上進入太空，有一種夢想成真的感覺。我很期待看見她穿上我設計的衣服。”
山崎還將一個“微縮版”的日本箏帶上了國際空間站，她的同伴野口聰則帶了一個日本橫笛，兩人要在空間站表演二重奏。
這個微縮版的日本箏是山崎專門請日本一家樂器工廠製作的，以符合航天飛機機艙行李體積的標準。這種古箏的長度一般爲1.8米（6英尺）。
製作這把“迷你”古箏的樂器製造商小川賢三說：“這把古箏的聲音和普通的古箏還是有些差別的，不過我很期待看見她在太空中彈奏它。”
日本宇航員向來喜歡太空娛樂。
去年，宇航員若田光一在太空中進行了一系列的零重力表演，包括測試“飛毯”、在國際空間站摺疊衣物和滴眼藥水，這些表演視頻都被日本航天局放到了網上。
Vocabulary:
out of this world:不切實際；好得不得了
twinning: 成雙；成對
guru: a person who is an expert on a particular subject or who is very good at doing something 專家；權威；大師
koto: （日本）十三絃古箏
ensemble: a group of musicians playing or singing together 合奏
penchant: a special liking for something 趣味，嗜好；強烈傾向
