If you think skydiving is scary, try doing it from twice the usual height and without a parachute. After two minutes of free-fall, you must position yourself to land on a net less than half the size of a football field, spread out 200 feet above the earth.
如果你觉得跳伞很恐怖的话，试想一下，从一般跳伞的两倍高度进行这项活动并且不带降落伞又会如何。在自由下坠两分钟后，你得把自己定位好，以便落到从地面架高200英尺（约合61米）的网子上，它的面积不到半个足球场大。
On Saturday, Luke Aikins took that challenge. He was the first person ever to attempt a skydive with neither a parachute nor a wingsuit — and, in a feat broadcast live on Fox, the first ever to complete one.
卢克‧艾金斯(Luke Aikins)在上周六接受了这项挑战。当天在福斯电视网(Fox)现场直播中，他成为史上首位尝试不带降落伞或穿滑翔衣跳伞并获得成功的人。
Mr. Aikins began his dive at an altitude of 25,000 feet, just 4,000 feet short of the summit of Mount Everest. Viewers watched him plummet, legs and arms spread, stomach down. Around 18,000 feet, he removed his oxygen mask and passed it to one of the three parachuted assistants diving with him. He aimed for the center of the net, guided by GPS and lights. Seconds before impact, he flipped onto his back and landed safely in the California desert.
艾金斯是从2万5千英尺（7620米）高处往下跳的，只比珠穆朗玛峰(Mount Everest)峰顶低了4千英尺（1219米）。观众看着艾金斯下坠，他的四肢张开、腹部朝下。高度达到约1万8千英尺（5486米）的时候，他取下氧气面罩，递给穿戴降落伞陪他一同行动的三名助手之一。在GPS装置与光线信号的引导下，他瞄准了安全网中心点。撞上安全网几秒前，他翻身让背部朝下，最终在加利福尼亚的沙漠里安全降落。
He lay cocooned in the net for a few moments, hands over his face. Then he clambered out, into the arms of his wife, Monica, with whom he has a 4-year-old son.
艾金斯被裹在安全网里躺了一阵子，双手掩面。 然后他爬了出来，投入妻子莫妮卡(Monica)的怀抱里；他们育有一个4岁儿子。
“We did and cannot thank everyone enough for the support,” Mr. Aikins wrote on Facebook shortly after the jump. “My vision was always proper preparation and that if you train right you can make anything happen. Thank you!!!!”
“我们不知道该如何感谢大家的支持才好，”艾金斯在完成跳伞不久后在Facebook上写道。“我认为永远都要妥善准备，而且只要训练得当，任何事都有可能成功。谢谢你们！！！！”
The stunt, planned for two years, almost did not happen. At first, Mr. Aikins, 42, who has skydived 18,000 times since he was 12 years old, felt the idea was a bit much even for him.
这次特技跳伞已经准备了两年时间，计划还几乎泡汤。42岁的艾金斯从12岁就开始跳伞，有18000次跳伞纪录。起初，他觉得这个想法就算对他来说都有些太过火了。
“Like any normal, sane person, I said: ‘Thank you, but no thank you. I have a wife and a son, and I’ve got a life to live,’” he told People magazine. “Then, two weeks went by and I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘If somebody said you had to do this, how could it be done?’”
“就像任何一个神智正常的普通人一样，我说：‘谢谢你的提议，不过还是免了吧。我家有妻小，还想继续过我的人生。’” 艾金斯告诉《人物》杂志(People)。“接下来两周时间里，我老是在半夜醒来，想着：‘如果有人说你非这么做不可，又该怎么去完成它呢？’”
Then, just two days ago, SAG-Aftra, the screen actors’ union, issued a “do not work” order barring its members from taking part in the production unless Mr. Aikins agreed to wear a parachute — something that, Mr. Aikins said in the live broadcast, would actually make the jump more dangerous by adding weight to his body, thus increasing the force of the impact.
然后，在仅仅两天前，美国演员工会及美国电视与广播演员联合会(SAG-Aftra)发出了“禁演令”，要求会员不得参与制作这项计划，除非艾金斯同意带降落伞。艾金斯则在现场直播中表示，降落伞其实会让这次跳伞更危险，因为这会增加他的重量，从而加强撞击力道。
As Mr. Aikins’s plane approached the start point of his dive, 25,000 feet above Simi Valley, Calif., he strapped on the parachute but told viewers he would not open it. At the last minute, the union dropped its objection, and Mr. Aikins removed the parachute before jumping from the plane.
艾金斯搭乘的飞机飞到近加州西米谷(Simi Valley)上方、2万5千英尺（7620米）高的起跳点的时候，他还是系上了降落伞装备，同时告诉观众他不会打开它。不过SAG-Aftra工会在最后一刻解除了禁令，于是艾金斯在跳出机身前脱下了降落伞。
Mr. Aikins’s publicist, Peter Moran, did not respond to an emailed request for an interview with his client on Saturday evening. But speaking to reporters at the scene, Mr. Aikins was euphoric.
艾金斯的公关人员彼得‧莫兰(Peter Moran)未回应本报在周六傍晚用电邮发出的访问请求，不过艾金斯在现场接受记者采访的时候显得神采飞扬。
“I’m almost levitating — it’s incredible, this thing that just happened,” he told reporters after climbing out of the net, according to E! Online. “The words I want to say, I can’t even get out of my mouth.”
“我几乎都要浮起来了── 刚刚发生的事情令人难以置信。”根据E! Online网站的报道，艾金斯爬出安全网后这么告诉记者。“我简直不知道该说什么才好。”