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First Space Tourist Sets Sights on Manned Mars Trip
A group headed by multimillionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 became the first space tourist, on Wednesday is expected to outline plans for a private manned mission to circle Mars by 2018.
2001年成为首位太空旅客的富豪蒂托(Dennis Tito)率领的一个团体预计将于周三公布计划，在2018年之前利用民间资本实现载人绕火星飞行。
Mr. Tito, an investment tycoon and space exploration booster, doesn't have a rocket, spacecraft or financing for the venture, according to industry officials familiar with the project. He plans to disclose the venture in Washington, D.C., attended by executives with Paragon Space Development Corp. His trip to the international space station is considered the first example of space tourism.
蒂托是投资大亨，也是太空探索的推动者。知情业内人士说，他的这个项目还没有火箭和宇宙飞船，也没有资金来源。他打算在华盛顿特区公布项目，发布会将有完美太空发展公司(Paragon Space Development Corp.)的高管出席。蒂托前往国际空间站之旅被认为是太空旅游的第一个样本。
A spokesman for Mr. Tito's group, Inspiration Mars Foundation, declined to comment.
蒂托团队“灵感火星基金会”(Inspiration Mars Foundation)的发言人不予置评。
He initially conceived the Mars mission as a roughly $500-million partnership with closely-held Space Exploration Technologies Corp., of Hawthorne, Calif., according to people familiar with the matter.
知情人士说，按照他最初的构想，火星之旅大约耗资5亿美元，由他与加州霍索恩(Hawthorne)的私人持股公司Space Exploration Technologies Corp.合作开展。
Mr. Tito co-authored a detailed technical paper on the subject with 10 corporate and NASA space experts. He may be willing to invest as much as $100 million of his personal fortune, the industry officials said. So far, there's no indication of who would supply the rest of the financing.
蒂托同企业界及美国航空航天局(NASA)的10位太空专家就这个话题联合发表了一篇详细的技术论文。前述业内人士说，他可能愿意将高达1亿美元的个人财富投入到这个项目。到目前为止还不知道其余资金由谁提供。
With no U.S. government missions slated to carry astronauts past low-earth orbit until at least the start of the next decade, Mr. Tito and his supporters saw the expedition as an opportunity to inspire students and showcase continuing U.S. supremacy in space.
美国政府至少要到2020年才打算搭载宇航员做近地轨道环绕飞行，所以蒂托及其支持者将这次飞行视为激发学生热情、证明美国在太空领域依旧领先的一次机会。 |
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发表于 2016-7-11 09:56:54