1·Bathed in xenon spotlights, the white spaceship, attached to its twin solid rocket boosters and orange external fuel tank, crept 3.4 miles on the back of an enormous tractor called the Crawler.
沐浴着氙气聚光灯光，白色的飞船，带着一对固体火箭推进器和橙色外挂燃料箱，在称为“爬行者”的巨大拖拉机上缓慢行驶了3.4英里。
2·But that may not matter too much. Lasers are more efficient than xenon lamps, which waste a lot of energy as heat.
不过瑕不掩瑜，激光的效率比氙气灯高，因为后者的能量很多以热能的形式散失了。
3·On top of that, lasers last for a long time, whereas xenon lamps burn out and need to be replaced periodically.
除此之外，激光能够持续更长时间段，而氙气灯较快燃尽，需定期更换。
4·Lacking the halogen's delicate tungsten filament, which slowly evaporates with use until it finally “blows”, xenon discharge lamps are robust enough to last at least the lifetime of the car.
卤素灯的钨灯丝在使用过程中会慢慢的蒸发，直到最后断掉。由于没有卤素灯那样脆弱的钨灯丝，氙气气体放电灯十分耐用，其使用寿命至少不低于汽车的使用寿命。
5·Though costlier, xenon allows a discharge lamp to start far more quickly.
尽管成本高，氙气能够迅速启动发电灯管。