VOA慢速英语2021--日本亿万富翁寻找8人绕月旅行

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has launched¹ a search for eight people to join him on a trip around the moon with the American space travel company SpaceX.

Maezawa announced the passenger search on Wednesday. The trip is set to take place in 2023. The selected group would become the first private passengers to travel around the moon.

Back in 2018, Maezawa said he would invite only artists for the weeklong trip. But on Wednesday, he said he expanded the search to "give more people from around the globe the chance to join this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you are an artist."

Maezawa, a former musician, is one of Japan's most colorful business leaders. The Japanese media often write about his collections of foreign and Japanese art and fast cars.

Maezawa is paying the full cost of the trip on SpaceX's next-generation vehicle called Starship. Maezawa has not said how much the trip will cost him. But he says it is more than the $110 million he spent on a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting.

Later this year, four private citizens will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) at the cost of $55 million each on another SpaceX vehicle, Crew Dragon.

The first part of Maezawa's selection² process for the moon trip runs until March 14. Candidates³ for the trip will need to pass medical checks first and then meet with Maezawa.

"I thought there might be delays but everything is on schedule," Maezawa told reporters. "Elon Musk⁴ says there is no problem and I believe him." Musk is the billionaire founder⁵ of SpaceX.

Two recent Starship models have exploded during testing. This shows the risks of space travel for Maezawa and other private passengers. The passengers also will have to deal with the physical demands of traveling outside Earth's orbit⁶.

Maezawa said he is not in training, which he expects to take a few months at most. But he added that he is drinking less alcohol⁷ and exercising more.

"I'm only preparing mentally," said Maezawa, who had considered a trip to the ISS before choosing the more difficult trip to the moon.

The distance from Earth to the moon is about 382,500 kilometers. Astronauts last visited the moon during NASA's Apollo program. Twenty-four men flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972. About half of them were able to reach the lunar surface.

Maezawa's trip around the moon will use SpaceX's reusable Big Falcon⁸ Rocket. Musk announced the development of the 118-meter rocket in 2018. He said it is designed to send passengers to the moon and, later, to Mars⁹.

Musk said the development of the rocket is expected to cost about $5 billion. He did not say how much Maezawa is paying for the lunar trip. But he said that the Japanese businessman's payment¹⁰ would help the cost of development.

SpaceX is competing with two other companies for space tourism money. They are Blue Origin, founded by Amazon chief executive¹¹ Jeff Bezos, and businessman Richard Branson's Virgin¹² Galactic.

Words in This Story

globe - n. the earth

journey - n. trip

schedule - n. a plan of things to be done and the times when they will be done

tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

1 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

2 selection   

n.选择，挑选，精选品，可选择的东西

参考例句：

• We left the selection of the team to the captain.我们把挑选队员的工作交给了队长。
• The shop has a fine selection of cheeses.那家商店有各种精美乳酪可供选购。

3 candidates   

n.报考者( candidate的名词复数 )；申请求职者；攻读学位者；最后命运或结局如何已显然可见者

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• one of the leading candidates for the presidency 总统职位的主要候选人之一

4 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

7 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

8 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

9 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

10 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

11 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

12 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。