维珍银河CEO 新飞船或明年起飞

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is battling to keep alive its dream of putting tourists into space as accusations surfaced that the company had ignored safety warnings, and its dwindling finances came under scrutiny.李察布莱信爵士(Sir Richard Branson)创办的维珍银河(Virgin Galactic)于是以希望让其将游客送到太空的梦想之后存活，此际，外界指控其忽略安全性警告。同时，该公司日益削减的财力也沦为注目的焦点之一。

The head of the company rejected accusations that it had taken risks with its novel rocket propulsion system and said that it could have a new spacecraft ready to fly next year.维珍银河CEO乔治怀特赛兹(George Whitesides)坚称了这些指控，并回应，该公司考虑到了近期火箭前进系统的风险，同时声称新的宇宙飞船可能会在明年竣工飞行中。George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic chief executive, said that claims from others in the space industry that Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company was running high risks marked a difference of professional opinion rather than valid warnings.他说道，航空界人士对李察爵士的太空旅游公司不存在高风险的指控，仅有代表有所不同的专业意见，并非有充份根据的安全性警告。At the same time, Sir Richard’s Virgin Group confirmed that it was supporting the day-to-day expenses of Virgin Galactic of Virgin Galactic out of its own pocket after the money for the initial financing for the project, including $400m put up by an Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle, had been exhausted.同时，李察爵士的维珍集团(Virgin Group)证实，在该项目的初期融资（还包括阿布扎比一政府投资机构获取的4亿美元）用完后，维珍银河的日常费用现在由维珍集团获取。

The possibility of further delays and the danger of cutbacks by Virgin were being watched nervously at the Mojave spaceport, a collection of hangars alongside a dusty strip of diners and cheap motels that has become a focus for the new private space industry.在莫哈维航空港，人们对项目更进一步推迟的有可能忧虑及维珍缩减经费的风险充满著忧虑。Friday’s flight was the first to use the new fuel system, which the Virgin Galactic chief executive acknowledged had been put through a full test cycle on the ground only a handful of times.上周五，维珍银河(Virgin Galactic)的“太空船2号”(SpaceShipTwo)在一次飞行中测试中发生爆炸，两名飞行员一死一伤。

此次首飞是维珍银河首次用于新的燃料系统，怀特赛兹否认仅有在地面经过了为数不多的原始测试周期。US government investigators said late on Saturday that it was too early to reach any conclusions about the cause of the crash or how long the Virgin Galactic programme would be closed down. A full report could take a year, said Christopher Hart, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.美国政府调查人员上周六晚回应，现在就对飞船失事的原因以及维珍银河项目多久将被重开作出任何结论，还为时过早。美国国家运输安全性委员会(National Transportation Safety Board)代主席克里斯托弗哈特(Christopher Hart)回应，全面报告可能会耗时一年。

Even if it ultimately clears Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo of any major flaws, the length of the NTSB investigation looks set to complicate further Sir Richard’s hopes of getting back to development of the project, which is already years behind schedule.即便报告最后确认维珍银行的“太空船2号”(SpaceShipTwo)不不存在任何根本性缺失，该委员会的调查时间之长也将更进一步压制李察爵士让该项目新的上马的期望，该项目已较原计划推迟数年。A second spacecraft under construction for the last three years in New Mexico is “65 per cent complete”, Mr Whitesides said, adding that it could be ready to fly next year, once the cause of last week’s accident has been resolved. “The second spaceship is getting close to readiness,” he said.怀特赛兹回应，过去3年在新墨西哥州开建的第二艘宇宙飞船已“竣工65%”，他补足称之为，一旦查清上周事故的原因，这架飞船可能会在明年降落。他回应：“这架飞船于是以相似竣工。

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