US couple holds the world's first weightless wedding 美国新人举办世界首场“失重

Bride Erin Finnegan and bridegroom Noah Fulmor, both of New York, seal their marriage vows² with a kiss during the first weightless wedding aboard a specially³-equipped Boeing 727, owned by Zero Gravity Corporation, while flying over the Gulf⁴ of Mexico after taking off from Titusville, Florida, June 20, 2009.

The bride wore white and earrings⁵ resembling tiny planets, the groom¹ a tuxedo⁶ and cuff⁷ links shaped like spacecraft, and the wedding party attended in blue jump suits.

New York City couple Erin Finnegan and Noah Fulmor floated into matrimony on Saturday thousands of feet above the Gulf of Mexico in what organizers said was the world's first weightless wedding held in zero gravity conditions.

The couple exchanged wedding vows and rings -- with some difficulty -- and fumbled⁸ their kiss flying weightless inside the padded fuselage of a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, G-Force One, operated by Zero Gravity Corp, or ZERO-G, a company offering weightless flight experiences.

"It was weirder⁹ than I expected. ... I've been to a lot of boring weddings, so I wanted to do something different," said Finnegan.

To recreate the weightless experience without going into space, the plane executed parabolic flight maneuvers¹⁰, climbing sharply and descending¹¹ several times during the one-hour flight.

Inside the 90-foot-long (27-meter) padded "floating zone," the ceremony was accomplished¹² with a lot of bumping and fumbling¹³, as bride and groom, guests and witnesses alike tried to coordinate¹⁴ their movements in a microgravity environment.

Officiating at the ceremony was Richard Garriott, a second- generation U.S. space traveler, and ZERO-G co-founder, who is also a registered notary¹⁵.

Fulmor, whose tuxedo tails were specially stiffened¹⁶ so they would not float out of control, admitted he had trouble lining¹⁷ up his lips for the all-important wedding kiss.

"I could feel where I was going, I knew where I needed to be, but it was hard to reconcile the differences," he told reporters.

"Noah knocked into my nose and I thought it would bleed," Finnegan said.

The couple didn't drop the ring -- but there was momentary¹⁸ confusion when someone else's wedding band floated off a finger and into the wedding group.

"I've waited my whole life for this ... what I remember most was the feeling of weightlessness, both physically¹⁹ and emotionally," Fulmor said.

新娘身穿白色婚纱，戴着小行星状的耳环，新郎是一身燕尾服，衬衫袖的链扣裁成太空船的形状，而宾客则身穿蓝色的跳伞服参加婚宴。

纽约新人埃琳•芬尼根和厄•富勒莫于上周六在墨西哥湾的数千英尺高空上“飞进”婚礼殿堂。组织者称这是世界首次在零重力状态下举行的“失重婚礼”。

这架名为“重力一号”的波音727-200飞机经过特意改装，机身里装填了垫料，新人在失重状态下飞行，他们艰难地宣誓，交换婚戒，接吻也费了半天劲。负责这场婚礼的是零重力公司，该公司为客户提供失重体验服务。

芬尼根说：“比我想象的还要神奇。我参加过很多场无趣的婚礼，所以我想来点儿特别的。”

为了不上太空而体验失重，飞机进行了“过山车”式的俯冲，在一小时的飞行期间，迅速爬升和下降。

婚礼在90英尺（合27米）长并装填了垫料的“失重区”内举行，尽管新郎新娘、宾客、见证人等已经努力在微重力环境下协调动作，但难免还是遇到了很多次碰撞“小插曲”。

婚礼主持人理查德•加里奥特是零重力公司的合作创始人之一，他的父亲曾是美国一位宇航员。理查德还是位注册公证人。

富勒莫承认，在非常重要的接吻环节他却很难吻到新娘。他的燕尾服经过了特殊硬化处理，以防止飘在空中无法控制。

他在接受记者采访时说：“我能感觉到我在往哪里走，也知道我该去哪里，但很难克服失重状态。”

芬尼根说：“诺亚撞到了我的鼻子，我还以为会流血。”

这对新人没有弄掉婚戒，但一位来宾所戴的婚戒却不慎脱落，“飘”到人群里，使大家一时摸不清状况。

富勒莫说：“这是我一直以来的梦想，我印象最深的是失重的感觉，身体和心理上都有（这种感觉）。”

 Vocabulary:

 parabolic：of, pertaining to, or resembling a parabola（抛物线状的）

 officiate: to discharge, perform, or supply, as an official duty or function（主持会议，行使职责）