美明年开启太空游 SpaceX拟送两名乘客绕月旅行

美国太空探索技术公司 US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon.

美国私人火箭公司太空探索技术公司宣布已有两位公民支付了绕月环游的费用。

The mission is planned for late 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, adding that the tourists "have already paid a significant deposit".

太空探索技术公司首席执行官伊隆•马斯克称，此次太空任务预计于2018年底进行，两名游客已经“支付了巨额保证金”。

"This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years," he said.

他说：“这为人类在45年后首次重返外层空间提供了机会。”

The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.

两位不具名游客搭乘的宇宙飞船预计于今年晚些时候进行首次无人驾驶试飞。

Mr Musk said the co-operation of America's Nasa space agency had made the plan possible.

马斯克说，美国宇航局的配合使得这一计划成为可能。

He said the two passengers "will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them".

他表示，这两位乘客“将以比前人更快的速度到达太阳系更远的地方。”

Mr Musk declined to reveal their identities, only saying that they knew each other and that "it's nobody from Hollywood".

马斯克拒绝透露他们的身份，只是说他们彼此认识，且“他们并非好莱坞名人”。

"Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration.

“和之前的阿波罗号宇航员一样，这两个人将在全人类探索精神的引领下，带着我们的希望和梦想遨游太空。”

"We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year."

“我们将进行健康和体能测试，并在今年晚些时候进行初级培训。”

Musk also said the first passengers "are entering this with their eyes open, knowing that there is some risk here".

马斯克还称，第一批乘客“来这里时心里有所准备，他们知道这是有风险的”。

"They're certainly not naive, and we'll do everything we can to minimise that risk, but it's not zero."

“他们当然没那么天真，而我们会竭尽所能降低风险，但风险并不是零。”

The space tourists would make a loop around the Moon, skimming the lunar surface and then going well beyond, Mr Musk said.

马斯克说，两位太空游客会绕月球环游一圈，掠过月球表面后去到更远的地方。

The mission will not involve a lunar landing.

此次太空任务没有登月部分。

The US has not sent astronauts to the Moon since the early 1970s.

自上世纪70年代初以来，美国就没有向月球运送过宇航员。