美研发超音速客机 90分钟纽约飞东京

It would be the fastest commercial flight since the days of the Concorde.

A California-based flight firm says its jet can take you from the Big Apple to the Orient in half the amount of time it would take to watch Titanic.

XCOR Aerospace claims its Lynx spacecraft can travel at a speed of more than 2,500 mph - and dozens of miles above the earth - before safely landing at an airport.

It would be the fastest commercial flight since the days of the Concorde.

Business Insider reported that work continues on a prototype of the jet, but portions of the aircraft have been released to the public, including testing of Lynx's supersonic engine last week.

When finished and successfully tested, the company will begin marketing the world’s quickest flights on a jet that takes off and lands like the 747s of today.

XCOR COO Andrew Nelson told the reporters that flights between Tokyo and New York are likely to be available within the next 20 years.

XCOR is one of several companies developing suborbital vehicles for commercial space tourist flights.

Lynx, a two-seater craft, will be able to take off and land at standard airports and unlike other spacecraft it will be a reusable space plane, capable of making up to four trips per day.

It will take a pilot and passenger to the edge of space for a few minutes of microgravity and the ultimate view of the Earth.

XCOR anticipates beginning space tourist flights on the new plane in 2013, with tickets selling for $95,000 per person.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

位于加州的XCOR宇航公司表示，他们研发的最新小型航天飞机从纽约到东京只需90分钟，仅相当于观看《泰坦尼克号》电影一半的时间。

XCOR宇航公司表示，“山猫”号航天飞机时速可超过2500英里，在安全在机场降落前飞行高度也将达到几十英里。

这将成为协和式超音速客机后速度最快的商业飞机。

据商业内幕网站报道，这种飞机的原型机仍在建造当中，但部分情况已对外公布，包括上周公布的“山猫”号超音速引擎测试。

在建造完成并测试成功后，该公司将开始运营全球最快的喷气式客机航班，起飞和降落就和现今的波音747客机一样。

XCOR公司的首席运营官安德鲁-纳尔逊告诉记者，东京到纽约的航线有望于20年内实现。

XCOR是开发亚轨道飞行器、用于商业太空飞行的几家公司之一。

“山猫”号设有两个座位，将可在普通机场起降，而且和其他航天器不同，这种航天飞机可以重复使用，每天最多能够飞行四次。

“山猫”号可搭载一名驾驶员和一名游客升空，进入太空边缘，体验几分钟太空微重力，俯瞰地球。

XCOR公司预计将于2013年使用新式航天飞机开展太空游项目，票价为每人9.5万美元。

Vocabulary:

Big Apple: 纽约市的别称

supersonic: 超音速的

suborbital: 亚轨道的