VOA新闻杂志2023 维珍银河公司重启太空飞船飞行

Virgin¹ Galactic has completed improvements to its VSS Unity² spaceplane. The company plans to restart a passenger flight program this year, the company said Tuesday.

维珍银河公司已经完成了其团结号太空飞船的改进。该公司周二表示，该公司计划今年重启载人飞行项目。

Virgin Galactic suspended flights of the Unity and its carrier plane, the VMS Eve, in 2021 to work on the craft. The VSS Unity launches from the surface of the Eve after that plane carries the spacecraft up.

维珍银河公司于2021年暂停了团结号太空飞船及其夏娃号运载机的飞行，以便对其进行改造。团结号太空飞船搭载夏娃号运载机升空后，再从其表面发射出去。

Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by billionaire Richard Branson.

维珍银河公司于2004年由亿万富翁理查德·布兰森创立。

Virgin Galactic chief Michael Colglazier said the company's goal for the near future is to safely provide flights on a usual basis. The company wants to give both researchers and space tourists "an unrivaled experience," he said.

维珍银河公司首席执行官迈克尔·科尔格拉泽表示，该公司近期的目标是安全地提供常规飞行。他说，该公司希望为研究人员和太空游客提供无与伦比的体验。

In February, Galactic made the first test flight of its carrier plane since 2021. The company is planning "two or three" test flights before any passenger transports, Colglazier said. The first flight will center on research for the Italian Air Force.

今年2月，维珍银河公司进行了2021年以来的首次运载机试飞。科尔格拉泽表示，该公司计划在载人飞行前进行两到三次试飞。第一次飞行将着重于意大利空军的研究。

The company hopes to do monthly flights after that to serve the 800 customers who have already purchased trips on the spaceplane.

该公司希望在此之后每月执行一次飞行，为已经购买太空飞船旅行的800名客户提供服务。

In February, Galactic re-opened ticket sales to the public. The cost of a flight is about $450,000 per person.

维珍银河公司于2月份重新向公众开放了机票销售。单次飞行的费用约为45万美元每人。

The spaceplane is to fly passengers about 80 kilometers above Earth where they will spend about 10 minutes in low gravity. The spaceplane will then return home, landing in a way similar to that of a traditional airplane.

该太空飞船将把乘客带到地球上方80公里处，他们将在那里的低重力环境中度过10分钟时间。然后，这艘太空飞船将返回地球，并以类似于传统飞机的方式着陆。

The VMS Unity and its carrier plane take off and land in the state of New Mexico. In 2014, a Virgin Galactic passenger spaceship broke up during a test flight, killing³ one pilot and badly injuring another.

团结号太空飞船及其运载机在新墨西哥州起降。2014年，维珍银河公司的一艘载人飞船在试飞中发生故障，导致一名飞行员死亡，另一名飞行员重伤。

1 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。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。