英国亿万富翁理查德·布兰森将于周日搭乘他创建的太空旅游公司的火箭动力飞机进入太空。
The 70-year-old Branson will join two pilots and three other "mission specialists" on the flight. Virgin Galactic -- the business Branson started in 2004 -- aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space. The trips are designed to permit passengers to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and observe the curvature of Earth.
70岁的布兰森将和两名飞行员以及其它3名任务专家一起登机。布兰森于2004年创办的维珍银河公司旨在将普通公民带到太空边缘。这些旅行旨在让乘客体验3到4分钟的失重并观察地球的曲面。
Virgin Galactic's experience takes place in a space plane called VSS Unity. A large carrier airplane, called VMS Eve, carries the space plane to 15,000 meters and then releases it. VSS Unity then uses rocket power to fly to the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
维珍银行公司的太空体验发生在一架名为VSS Unity 的太空飞机上。一架名为VMS Eve的大型运载飞机将把这架太空飞机送到1.5万米的高度然后释放。然后VSS Unity使用火箭动力飞到地球大气层的边缘。
The trip will begin and end at Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America complex in the southwestern state of New Mexico. The flight is expected to carry the group to a height of about 89 kilometers.
这次旅行将在维珍银河位于美国西南部新墨西哥州的美国太空港综合体开始和结束。预计这次飞行将把这群人带到约89公里的高度。
Virgin's mission marks the 22nd test flight of the spacecraft, and fourth crewed trip beyond Earth's atmosphere. But it will be the first to carry a full group of space travelers in addition to pilots.
维珍的这次任务是这艘飞船的第22次测试飞行，以及第4次超出地球大气层的载人飞行。但是它将是首次满员搭载除飞行员以外的太空旅行者。
If successful, Sunday's flight will mean that Branson made it to space before Jeff Bezos -- the creator of rival space tourism company Blue Origin. About a month ago, Bezos announced his plans to be on his company's first human space flight.
如果成功，周日的这次飞行将意味着布兰森比竞争对手蓝色起源太空旅游公司的创始人杰夫·贝佐斯更早进入太空。大约一个月前，贝佐斯宣布了参与自己公司首次载人航天飞行的计划。
Bezos' flight is set to launch on July 20 from the company's launch center in West Texas. He will be joined by his brother, Mark, and two other guests.
贝佐斯的飞船将于7月20日从该公司位于德克萨斯州西部的发射中心发射升空。他的兄弟马克以及另外两名乘客将会加入他的行列。
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches together with a self-piloted spacecraft that can carry up to six people. The spacecraft separates from the reusable rocket, which is designed to return to Earth and land in an upright position by itself.
蓝色起源公司的新谢泼德号火箭将与可搭载6名乘客的自动驾驶飞船一起发射升空。这艘飞船将与可重复利用火箭分离，后者被设计为自行返回地球并垂直着陆。
Much has been written about a race to space between the two billionaires. Branson had long stated his desire to fly aboard Virgin Galactic's space plane. His latest plans were made public shortly after Bezos made his announcement. However, Branson has said it was not his goal to beat Bezos to space.
关于这两位亿万富翁之间的太空竞赛已经着墨甚多。布兰森长期以来一直表示他希望搭乘维珍银行的太空飞机飞行。在贝佐斯宣布他的计划后不久，布兰森的最新计划就公开了。然而，布兰森表示击败贝佐斯率先进入太空并不是他的目标。
"It's honestly not a race," he recently told Reuters news agency. "If it's a race, it's a race to produce wonderful spaceships that can make many more people be able to access space. And I think that's both of our aims."
他对路透社表示：“老实说这不是一场比赛。如果这是一场比赛，那就是一场制造非凡太空飞船让更多人得以进入太空的比赛。我认为这是我们共同的目标。”
Bezos has not commented publicly on Branson's upcoming flight.
贝佐斯尚未对布兰森即将开启的飞行发表公开评论。
So far, more than 600 people have reserved seats with Virgin Galactic at a cost of $250,000 each. Blue Origin expects to announce prices and sell trips once Bezos flies.
到目前为止，已经有超过600人以每人25万美元的价格预定了维珍航空的座位。蓝色起源公司预计会在贝佐斯的飞行后公布价格并销售太空旅行。
America's SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, also has a space tourism business, and has sold several seats on private space flights. But SpaceX has said its space tourism program aims to launch people into super high orbit – about 800 to 1,200 kilometers above Earth. The price for those trips is expected to be millions of dollars.
埃隆·马斯克领导的美国太空探索技术公司也有太空旅游业务，并已售出多个私人太空飞行的座位。但是太空探索技术公司曾表示，该公司的太空旅游计划旨在将人们送入距离地球800至1200公里的超高轨道。这些旅行的价格预计将为数百万美元。
Musk has stated his desire to one day ride into space on a company-built spaceship. He has not said when he might be ready to go.
马斯克曾表示他希望有一天能够搭乘自己公司建造的宇宙飞船进入太空。他尚未表示他什么时候能够整装待发。
But Musk recently said on Twitter: "There is a big difference between reaching space and reaching orbit."
但是马斯克最近在推特上表示：“ 到达太空和到达轨道有很大区别。”
I'm Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)