[ti:Billionaire Race: Branson Set to Be First to Visit Space]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]British billionaire Richard Branson is set to launch into space on Sunday
[00:07.84]on a rocket plane built by the space tourism company he created.
[00:14.96]The 70-year-old Branson will join two pilots
[00:19.96]and three other "mission specialists" on the flight.
[00:24.76]Virgin Galactic -- the business Branson started in 2004
[00:31.44]-- aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space.
[00:36.88]The trips are designed to permit passengers
[00:41.24]to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness
[00:45.92]and observe the curvature of Earth.
[00:50.24]Virgin Galactic's experience takes place in a space plane called VSS Unity.
[00:59.56]A large carrier airplane, called VMS Eve, carries the space plane
[01:06.28]to 15,000 meters and then releases it.
[01:12.08]VSS Unity then uses rocket power
[01:16.36]to fly to the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
[01:20.48]The trip will begin and end
[01:24.00]at Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America complex
[01:28.80]in the southwestern state of New Mexico.
[01:32.80]The flight is expected to carry the group
[01:36.52]to a height of about 89 kilometers.
[01:41.32]Virgin's mission marks the 22nd test flight of the spacecraft,
[01:47.60]and fourth crewed trip beyond Earth's atmosphere.
[01:53.24]But it will be the first to carry a full group
[01:57.32]of space travelers in addition to pilots.
[02:01.60]If successful, Sunday's flight will mean that Branson
[02:07.08]made it to space before Jeff Bezos
[02:11.48]-- the creator of rival space tourism company Blue Origin.
[02:17.20]About a month ago, Bezos announced his plans
[02:21.48]to be on his company's first human space flight.
[02:26.24]Bezos' flight is set to launch on July 20
[02:31.24]from the company's launch center in West Texas.
[02:36.04]He will be joined by his brother, Mark, and two other guests.
[02:43.24]Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket
[02:46.68]launches together with a self-piloted spacecraft
[02:51.12]that can carry up to six people.
[02:54.88]The spacecraft separates from the reusable rocket,
[02:59.16]which is designed to return to Earth
[03:02.52]and land in an upright position by itself.
[03:07.48]Much has been written about a race to space
[03:11.52]between the two billionaires.
[03:14.24]Branson had long stated his desire
[03:17.76]to fly aboard Virgin Galactic's space plane.
[03:22.12]His latest plans were made public shortly
[03:26.16]after Bezos made his announcement.
[03:30.80]However, Branson has said it was not his goal to beat Bezos to space.
[03:38.04]"It's honestly not a race," he recently told Reuters news agency.
[03:45.48]"If it's a race, it's a race to produce wonderful spaceships
[03:50.84]that can make many more people be able to access space.
[03:56.20]And I think that's both of our aims."
[04:01.20]Bezos has not commented publicly on Branson's upcoming flight.
[04:07.04]So far, more than 600 people have reserved seats
[04:12.56]with Virgin Galactic at a cost of $250,000 each.
[04:19.28]Blue Origin expects to announce prices and sell trips once Bezos flies.
[04:27.84]America's SpaceX, led by Elon Musk,
[04:32.80]also has a space tourism business,
[04:36.52]and has sold several seats on private space flights.
[04:41.36]But SpaceX has said its space tourism program
[04:46.52]aims to launch people into super high orbit
[04:50.56]– about 800 to 1,200 kilometers above Earth.
[04:57.36]The price for those trips is expected to be millions of dollars.
[05:02.96]Musk has stated his desire to one day ride into space
[05:08.20]on a company-built spaceship.
[05:10.60]He has not said when he might be ready to go.
[05:15.08]But Musk recently said on Twitter:
[05:19.24]"There is a big difference between reaching space and reaching orbit."
[05:25.68]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM