VOA慢速英语2019 SpaceX计划将4名普通公民送到更高的太空轨道（在线收听）

American technology company SpaceX says it plans to launch as many as four private citizens into a higher orbit than ever before.

美国太空探索科技公司(SpaceX)称其计划将多达4名普通公民送到比以往更高的太空轨道上。

SpaceX is working with U.S.-based Space Adventures Inc. to offer the space flights, the two companies recently announced. No dates or costs for the flights were announced.

美国太空探索科技公司与美国太空探险公司(Space Adventures)最近宣布，两家公司正在合作提供太空旅行。具体时间和费用尚未公布。

Space Adventures has already helped send seven space tourists to the International Space Station, or ISS, aboard Russian Soyuz rockets.

太空探险公司已经帮助7名太空游客搭乘俄罗斯联盟号火箭抵达国际空间站。

The SpaceX trips will not send the space tourists to the ISS. Instead, the tourists will be launched to an orbit two to three times higher -- about 800 to 1,200 kilometers above Earth.

太空探索科技公司这次行程不会将太空游客送到国际空间站。相反，这些乘客将被送到比国际空间站高出2到3倍的轨道上，距离地球大约800到1200公里。

The citizens will be carried by SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which was developed to transport NASA astronauts. SpaceX is planning to use the Crew Dragon to launch its first NASA-crewed flight later this year. The spacecraft has only flown in space once so far, completing a successful test flight last year with no crew.

这些公民将搭载太空探索科技公司的载人龙飞船，该飞船是为运送美国太空总署的宇航员而开发的。太空探索科技公司计划在今年晚些时候利用载人龙飞船进行美国太空总署宇航员的首次飞行。迄今为止，该飞船只进行过一次太空飞行，去年它在没有乘员的情况下成功完成了一次测试飞行。

A spokeswoman for Space Adventures, Stacey Tearne, told The Associated Press that the tourist flights could take place by the end of next year. She said the company was already in talks with several possible customers.

太空探险公司的女发言人史黛西·泰恩对美联社表示，这次太空旅行可能会在明年年底进行。她说，该公司已经在跟几位潜在客户进行谈判。

Tearne noted that no professional pilot or astronaut would be required on the tourist flights because the Dragon operates fully autonomously. Passengers, will, however, be able to control the spacecraft if required, she added.

泰恩指出，由于龙飞船是完全自主运行，因此这次太空旅行无需专业的飞行员或宇航员。她还说，如果有需要，乘客将能够控制该飞船。

The cost will be similar to earlier tourist flights, Tearne said. Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte, founder of Cirque du Soleil, paid $35 million for a 10-day space station flight in 2009. Laliberte said from orbit that the flight it was "worth every penny and more."

泰恩表示，这次的费用与早期太空旅行的费用接近。加拿大亿万富翁、太阳马戏团创始人盖伊·拉利伯特在2009年花费3500万美元进行了为期10天的空间站飞行。拉利伯特在太空轨道上表示，这次飞行“物超所值。”

The first private citizen to fly in space was Dennis Tito, a California businessman. He paid $20 million for an eight-hour stay on the ISS in 2001.

第一位在太空飞行的普通公民是加州商人丹尼斯·蒂托。他于2001年花了2000万美元在国际空间站停留了8个小时。

"This historic mission will forge a path to making spaceflight possible for all people who dream of it," said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX.

太空探索科技公司总裁兼首席运营官格温妮·肖特韦尔表示：“这项历史性任务将为所有梦想者开辟一条道路，让他们的太空飞行梦想成为可能。”

The president of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson, said the tourist flights would be able to reach at least twice the orbit of any past citizen astronaut mission or space station visitor."

太空探险公司总裁埃里克·安德森表示，这次太空旅行至少能够到达以往普通公民宇航员任务或空间站访客所到达轨道的两倍以上。

That orbit would also place the tourist flights well beyond the levels of other companies that currently offer space tourism flights.

该轨道还将会使这次太空旅行远远超出目前提供太空旅行的其它公司的水平。

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are both developing spacecraft to send private citizens to just beyond the border of space, about 80 kilometers above Earth.

理查德·布兰森的维珍银河公司和杰夫·贝索斯的蓝色起源公司都在开发太空飞船，将普通公民送到距离地球约80公里的太空边缘。

The price for Virgin Galactic flights started at $250,000 when they first went on sale in 2004.

维珍银河公司2004年首次销售时的太空旅行费用起价为25万美元。