Preparations for space tourism underway

Jeff Bezos plans to charge at least $ 200 000 for space rides making them important elements in the global space economy

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company plans to charge passengers about $200000 to $300000 for its first trips into space next year, two people familiar with its plans told Reuters. Potential customers and the aerospace industry have been eager to learn the cost of a ticket on Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle, to find out if it is affordable and whether the company can generate enough demand to make a profit on space tourism. Executives at the company, started by Amazon. com Inc founder Bezos in 2000, told a business conference in June they planned test flights with passengers on the New Shepard soon, and to start selling tickets next year.

The company has made public the general design of the vehicle– comprising a launch rocket and detachable passenger capsule – but has been tight-lipped on production status and ticket prices. Blue Origin representatives did not respond to requests for comment on its programs and pricing strategy. Bezos said in May ticket prices had not yet been decided. One Blue Origin employee said the company will start selling tickets in the range of about $ 200000 to $300000. A second employee said tickets would cost a minimum of $200000. They both spoke on condition of anonymity as the pricing strategy is confidential.

The New Shepard is designed to fly six passengers more than 100 km above Earth into suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet before the capsule returns to earth under parachutes. The capsule features six observation windows Blue Origin says are nearly three times as tall as those on a Boeing Co 747 jetliner. Blue Origin, whose Latin motto means „step by step, ferociously,“ is working towards making civilian space flight an important niche in the global space economy, alongside satellite services and government exploration projects.

Bezos, the world’s richest person with a fortune of about $112 billion, has competitionfrom fellow billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk, Tesla Incs chief executive. All three are looking to slash the cost of spaceflight by developing reusable spacecraft, meaning prices for passengers and payloads should drop as launch frequency increases.

include its own employees, though the company has not selected them yet.

Text pochází z agentury Reuters  Zdroj LN

 

Naučte se gramatiku podle textu

Dn es se zaměříme na spojení be likely to, se kterým jsme se setkali ve větě „… first passengers are likely to include its own employees…“
(„… je pravděpodobné, že prvními pasažéry se stanou jejich vlastní zaměstnanci…“). Tato vazba vyjadřuje, že se něco v budoucnu pravděpodobně stane. Zápor utvoříme přidáním předpony un ke slovu likely nebo použitím záporného slovesa be: The weather is unlikely / isn’t likely to change over the next few days. (Počasí se asi / pravděpodobně v následujících několika dnech nezmění.)

eložte: Pravděpodobně se uzdraví. Pravděpodobně se konference nezúčastní. Není pravděpodobné, že se stane naším prezidentem. Pravděpodobně tu zkoušku udělá.

ERIC M. JOHNSON

SLOVÍČKA

space vesmír

charge účtovat

ride jízda

eager nedočkavý, dychtivý

affordable cenově dostupný

demand poptávka

founder zakladatel

make public zveřejnit

comprise skládat se

detachable oddělitelný

capsule kabina

tight-lipped tajnůstkářský

range rozmezí, rozsah

on condition za podmínky

confidential důvěrný, tajný

weightlessness stav beztíže

curvature zakřivení

ferociously dravě, zběsile

niche specifické místo na trhu

fortune jmění

competition konkurence

slash srazit, zredukovat

payload nesený náklad

drop klesat, padat

disclose prozradit, sdělit

operating costs provozní náklady

estimate odhadnout

Řešení: He is likely to recover. He is unlikely to attend the conference. He is unlikely to become our president. He is likely to pass the exam.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard – a vehicle designed to fly tourists into suborbital space – lifts off during a test in Van Horn, Texas, U. S. FOTO REUTERS