To the Stars and Beyond 飛向浩瀚無垠的太空 更多專欄文章

Space exploration continued to change and grow. Some people, however, were not satisfied with letting the experts have all the fun. Instead, they wanted to be able to experience zero gravity for themselves. Luckily, this has become possible thanks to a number of private companies that offer to take civilians into space. Potential passengers have to go through a certain amount of training before their spaceflight. These commercial trips take passengers more than 100 kilometers above the Earth for about three hours. Once in space, the passengers get to experience out-of-this-world views of the planet and stars as well as around six minutes of weightlessness. Space tourism is definitely creating a new era in spaceflight. Who knows? Maybe one day you too will be shooting through space. 太空探索持續地改變和發展。然而有些人卻不甘讓專家獨享所有樂趣，他們也想 親身體驗無重力狀態。幸運的是，由於一些私人企業提供了讓一般百姓上太空的 機會，這項願望因此得以成真。候選乘客在進行太空飛行前，必須先經過一定程 度的訓練。這些以營利為目的的旅程會把乘客帶到離地表一百公里以上的高空， 時間長達約三小時。一旦到了太空，乘客就能以超乎這個世界的觀點來欣賞地球 及天上繁星，並且體驗約六分鐘的失重狀態。太空旅遊絕對為太空飛行創造了嶄 新的世代。誰能說得準呢？搞不好有一天您也可以穿梭太空喔。 生活必備字詞 continue to + 原形動詞

繼續（做）……

Despite all of the obstacles, Alice continued to fight for her rights. private (a.) 私人的；個人的 go through…經歷／遭遇…… John went through many setbacks before he became a successful writer.

太空旅遊不再是富豪專利 如今航太產業發展出一種新興的觀光產業，讓一般人也有機會一遊太空。然而太 空旅遊耗資甚鉅，通常一趟旅遊就要價台幣上億元，不過現在有公司提供價格較 低的行程。例如英國的布蘭森集團就推出一趟只收二十萬美元的行程，不過旅客

只能在地球次軌道上待三至四個小時。即便如此，這種相對低廉的價格目前仍吸 引了約五萬人排隊等著上太空。可以想像，將來太空旅遊的費用肯定會大幅下 降，甚至有機會變成一種平民化活動。 本文節錄自《常春藤生活英語》雜誌