VOA慢速英语--SpaceX第一名选择去登月的私人乘客曝光

SpaceX Announces First Private Passenger for Moon Trip

The American space-travel company SpaceX has announced that its first private passenger to the moon will be a Japanese businessman. Yusaku Maezawa is the creator and chief executive¹ of the online clothing store Zozo.

Maezawa wants to take a trip around the moon using the planned Big Falcon² Rocket in 2023. He also announced that he plans to invite six to eight artists, architects, designers and other creative people to join him. He said he wants to “inspire the dreamer in all of us.”

Maezawa said he does not want to have the experience by himself. Instead, he wants his crew, “to see the moon up close, and the Earth in full view, and create work to reflect their experience.”

Maezawa added that he often wondered what artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat or Andy Warhol might have created if they had traveled to space.

A former musician, Maezawa, is one of Japan's most colorful business leaders. He is regularly covered by Japanese media for his collection of foreign and Japanese art and fast cars. Maezawa also is known for having paid a record $110 million for an untitled 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Not 100 percent certain

Maezawa's identity was announced at an event on Monday evening at SpaceX’s headquarters and rocket factory near Los Angeles.

At the event, Musk³ gave additional information about the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, a reusable 118-meter rocket. He wants the rocket to send passengers to the moon and, later, Mars⁴. Musk said that the BFR is still in development and will make several unmanned test launches before carrying passengers.

Musk also added that the BFR could be taking its first orbital flights in about two to three years. Earlier, he had said he wanted the rocket to be ready for an unmanned trip to Mars by 2022 and a crewed flight in 2024.

However, in the past, Musk has not always been able to meet planned target dates. "It’s not 100 percent certain we can bring this to flight," Musk said of the lunar mission.

Musk said the development of the BFR is expected to cost about $5 billion. He did not say how much Maezawa is paying for the lunar trip. But he said that the Japanese businessman will make a significant pre-payment that will help the cost of development.

Space Tourism

Space tourism began in 2001 when businessman Dennis Tito paid for a trip on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station. The trip was organized by the Virginia-based company Space Adventures. The company has sent several more paying customers on spaceflights since then.

SpaceX is competing with two other companies for space tourism money. They are Blue Origin of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos and Virgin⁵ Galactic of entrepreneur⁶ Richard Branson.

NASA is planning its own orbital trip to the moon with a crew in 2023. The U.S. space agency aims to build a manned space station near the moon during the 2020s.

The distance from Earth to the moon is about 382,500 kilometers. Astronauts last visited Earth’s only natural satellite during NASA’s Apollo program. Twenty-four men flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972, about half of them were able to reach the lunar surface.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

architect - n. a person who designs buildings?

entrepreneur - n. a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money?

headquarters - n. a place from which something (such as a business or a military action) is controlled or directed?

inspire - v. to make (someone) want to do something ?

private sector⁷ - n. the part of an economy which is not controlled or owned by the government?

significant - n. large enough to be noticed or have an effect

1 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

2 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

3 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。

4 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

5 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。

6 entrepreneur   

n.企业家，主办人

参考例句：

• The entrepreneur has become a news figure.这位企业家变成了新闻人物。
• The entrepreneur takes business risks in the hope of making a profit.企业家为追求利润而冒险。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。