美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the space tourism industry has fared since Richard Branson's launch

How the space tourism industry has fared since Richard Branson's launch

Transcript¹

On this day one year ago, Richard Branson won the billionaire space race by taking his own privately-funded vessel² to the edge of space.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Three, two, one. Release, release, release.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Fire, fire.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It has been exactly one year since Richard Branson won the billionaire space race. His Virgin³ Galactic rocket plane detached from a cargo⁴ aircraft and took Branson and his crew on a very cool trip.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RICHARD BRANSON: To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

(Laughter).

MARTIN: Branson beat Jeff Bezos by nine days, becoming the first person to ride his own company's vessel into space.

INSKEEP: Or maybe it was near space. Depends on the definition of where space begins.

MICHAEL WALL: I mean, if you get about 50 miles, you're pretty high up. So, like, my own personal opinion is that counts as spaceflight.

INSKEEP: Michael Wall covers the industry for space.com. He says Virgin Galactic has not delivered any civilians⁵ to space since then. So Jeff Bezos pulled ahead with his competing operation.

WALL: Blue Origin. They've flown people five times to date, most recently just last month.

MARTIN: And don't forget Elon Musk⁶ and SpaceX, not that he would let you.

WALL: But it's a different kind of space tourism. They have actually launched people to Earth orbit, which is a much tougher thing to do. They actually just flew three paying customers to the space station just a couple of months ago.

MARTIN: And they have a contract to do even more of that in the near future.

INSKEEP: Space tourism is in its infancy⁷, and Virgin Galactic says it has at least 800 names on its waiting list.

WALL: We actually know how much they charge. It costs $450,000. We don't know how much Blue Origin charges, and we don't really know how much SpaceX is charging for their orbital trips. They've got a NASA deal to fly NASA astronauts to and from the space station. And that works out to about $55 million per seat.

INSKEEP: Whoa.

MARTIN: Just 55 million. A cheaper option is on the horizon, though. There are companies planning to take people into the high atmosphere underneath⁸ a giant balloon.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

7 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。