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Billionaire Race: Bezos Aims to Be First to Visit Space
Three of the founders of America's top private space companies have stated their personal desire to fly into space.
But only one will be first.
Jeff Bezos is head of the rocket company Blue Origin. He also founded the online store Amazon. Bezos has announced plans to make his wish come true next month on the company's first human space flight. If successful, the 57-year-old would become the first person to ride his own company's rocket into space.
Two other founders -- Elon Musk of SpaceX and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic -- have said they also want to ride into space on a company-built spaceship.
"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos said in a message announcing his plans on Instagram. He said he would be making the trip with his brother, Mark. "On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend," Bezos said.
Joining the brothers will be at least one other passenger who is being chosen by an online auction. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket and capsule can carry up to six people.
The spacecraft will take its passengers on a 10-minute flight to about 105 kilometers above Earth. That distance is a common international definition for the beginning of space, also known as the "Karman line." The passengers are expected to spend about four minutes in this suborbital space, where they can experience weightlessness and observe the curvature of Earth.
The rocket will take off from Blue Origin's launch center in a rural area of West Texas. After the capsule separates, the reusable rocket is designed to return to Earth and land in an upright position by itself. The capsule is designed to float back to the surface with three large parachutes.
Blue Origin said it has carried out 15 successful test flights of New Shepard, but none of those carried humans. The spacecraft is named after NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go into space. The planned launch date is July 20. The date was chosen because it is the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Bezos has said he will step down as Amazon's chief 15 days before the launch. Earlier, he announced that he wanted to spend more time on projects for Blue Origin.
On its website, the company says its goal is to develop reusable launch vehicles for civilian and defense purposes. The Bezos flight will officially launch the company's space tourism business. The company has yet to start selling seats to the public or announce prices for the short trips.
Virgin Galactic founder Branson has said he also plans to ride into space on the company's winged spacecraft later this year after one more test flight over the state of New Mexico. Virgin Galactic recently completed its third test flight into space with a crew.
The 70-year-old Branson offered congratulations to Bezos after his announcement. Branson tweeted that their two companies "are opening up access to space -- how extraordinary!"
Like Blue Origin, Branson's company plans to send space tourists to the lower levels of space. About 600 people have already planned flights, which cost up to $250,000.
Musk's SpaceX has already carried 10 astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the U.S. space agency. His company has also sold several seats on private space flights. SpaceX, however, 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 cost millions of dollars.
Musk has not said when he might be ready to go to space himself. But he has predicted his company's reusable spacecraft called Starship will one day carry people to the moon and Mars.
Musk has repeatedly said he wants "to die on Mars. Just not on impact."
I'm Bryan Lynn.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. name after 以...命名
Every parish was named after a saint.
每个教区都以一个圣徒的名字命名。
2. open up 打开；开发
This new job could open up whole new vistas for her.
这项新工作可能给她开辟全新的前景。
3. step down 辞职；下台；逐步减低
Mubarak would not step down.
穆巴拉克拒绝了辞职。
4. be ready to do 愿意做...；准备好做...
The government is ready to declare a permanent ceasefire.
政府已经准备好宣布永久停火。
参考译文
美国富豪争升空 贝佐斯抢先机
美国三位顶级私营太空公司的创始人纷纷表达了他们个人想要飞入太空的愿望。
不过只能一人抢先机。
杰夫·贝佐斯（Jeff Bezos）是蓝色起源火箭公司的负责人。他还成立了亚马逊在线商城。贝佐斯宣布计划在下个月该公司的首次载人航天飞行中实现自己的愿望。如果成功，这位57岁的富豪将成为首位搭载自家公司火箭升空的人。
另外两位创始人——太空探索技术公司的埃隆·马克斯（Elon Musk）和维珍银河公司的理查德·布兰森（Richard Branson）都表示他们想搭乘自家公司建造的宇宙飞船进入太空。
贝佐斯在 Instagram 上宣布了他的航天计划，他表示：“从5岁起，我就梦想着前往太空。”他表示会跟他的弟弟马克一起开启这趟旅程。贝佐斯表示：“在7月20日，我将和我的弟弟，也是我最好的朋友，一起开启这段最伟大的冒险。”
至少还有一位乘客将通过在线拍卖的方式与两兄弟同行。蓝色起源公司的新谢泼德火箭和太空舱最多可搭载6人。
该航天器将搭载乘客进行10分钟的飞行，到达距离地球大约105公里的上空。这个距离是太空起点的国际通用定义，也被称为“卡门线。”预计乘客们将在这个亚轨道空间上停留大约4分钟，在那里他们可以体验失重状态并观察地球曲面。
该火箭将从蓝色起源公司位于德克萨斯西部偏远地区的发射中心升空。在太空舱分离之后，可重复使用的火箭将自行返回地球，并以直立的姿势着陆。太空舱被设计成通过3个大型降落伞飘回到地表。
蓝色起源公司称其已经对新谢泼德号进行了15次成功试飞，但是没有试过载人飞行。该航天器以美国宇航局宇航员艾伦·谢泼德命名，他是首位进入太空的美国人。计划发射日期定在7月20日。之所以选择这一天，是因为它是阿波罗11号宇航员尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和巴兹·奥尔德林实现人类首次登月的第52个周年纪念日。
贝佐斯曾表示，他将在升空前15日卸任亚马逊首席执行官一职。早些时候，他宣布想花更多时间在蓝色起源的项目上。
该公司在其官方网站上表示，其目标是开发可重复利用的民用和国防运载火箭。贝佐斯的此次飞行将正式启动该公司的太空旅游项目。该公司尚未向公众出售座位或公布短途太空旅行的价格。
维珍银河公司的创始人布兰森表示，在新墨西哥州再次进行试飞后，他还计划在今年晚些时候搭载该公司的有翼航天器进入太空。维珍银河公司最近完成了第三次载人航天的试飞。
70岁的布兰森在贝佐斯宣布这一消息后向他表示了祝贺。布兰森在推特上表示，他们两家公司“正在开放进入太空的渠道，这是很了不起的事情！”
跟蓝色起源公司一样，布兰森的公司计划将太空旅客送到低层太空。大约有600人已经计划进行这种费用高达25万美元的太空旅行。
马斯克的太空探索科技公司已经为美国宇航局运送了10名宇航员到达国际空间站。他的公司还计划出售私人太空飞行中的几个座位。然而，太空探索科技公司称其太空旅行项目旨在将客户送到距地球800到1500公里的超高轨道。这趟太空之旅的价格预计高达数百万美元。
马斯克没有说明他自己何时可能准备好前往太空。但是马斯克预测，他公司被称为星舰的可重复利用宇宙飞船有朝一日可载人前往月球和火星。
马斯克一再表示，他想“在火星上终老，不是（降落时）撞死的那种。”
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译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
