This undated file illustration provided by Blue Origin shows the capsule that the company aims to use to take tourists into space。 /AP
週六，一位神秘買家以2800萬美元的高價拍得“新謝潑德號”載人飛船的坐席。
“新謝潑德號”由藍色起源公司製造，這家致力於將乘客帶往太空邊緣的短途飛行（這一領域被稱為亞軌道旅行）的公司是貝索斯在2000年9月8日成立的，“新謝潑德號”的旅程將是藍色起源的首次載人飛行。
將與這位買家一起乘坐“新謝潑德號”飛向太空的，還有亞馬遜的創始人、億萬富翁傑夫·貝索斯和他的弟弟馬克·貝索斯。
本週早些時候，貝索斯表示，將於7月20日和弟弟馬克·貝索斯一起，乘坐藍色起源公司研製併發射的首艘載人飛船“新謝潑德號”前往太空邊緣，進行一次“最偉大的冒險”。
A mystery bidder paid $28 million at auction on Saturday for a seat alongside Jeff Bezos on board the first crewed spaceflight of the billionaire‘s company Blue Origin next month。
Blue Origin works on short flights that take passengers to the edge of space， a sector known as suborbital travel。
Bezos， the Amazon founder revealed this week that both he and his brother Mark would take seats on board the company’s New Shepard launch vehicle on July 20， to fly to the edge of space and back。
The Bezos brothers will be joined by the winner of Saturday‘s charity auction， whose identity remains unknown。
“The name of the auction winner will be released in the weeks following the auction’s conclusion，” tweeted Blue Origin following the sale。
“Then， the fourth and final crew member will be announced – stay tuned。”
藍色起源公司週六表示，購票者的身份要幾周後才會公佈。在當天的現場競拍之前，網上競拍活動持續了數週，來自159個國家的7000多人提交了線上競標。6月10日公開線上競標階段結束時的最高出價已達480萬美元，週六的最終直播拍賣僅進行了一分多鐘，票價就升至1000萬美元；拍賣開始不到7分鐘，這張“船票”就被一位買家以2800萬美元購得。
拍賣收益除去6%的拍賣佣金之後，將捐給藍源公司的慈善基金會。
“新謝潑德號”荷載僅6人，對外開放4個席位，目前只剩一席空置。
Saturday‘s successful bidder beat out some 20 rivals in an auction launched on May 19 and wrapped up with a 10-minute livecast frenzy。
Bidding had reached $4。8 million by Thursday but shot up spectacularly in the final live auction， rising by million-dollar increments。
The proceeds – aside from a six percent auctioneer’s commission – will go to Blue Origin‘s foundation， Club for the Future， which aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM – science， technology， engineering and mathematics。
Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos addresses the media about the New Shepard rocket booster and Crew Capsule mockup at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs， Colorado， U。S。， April 5， 2017。 / Reuters
今年7月5日，貝索斯將正式卸任亞馬遜CEO。
他曾表示自己要將更多時間花在包括藍色起源在內的其他專案上，並稱飛入太空是他畢生的夢想。
從自美國得克薩斯州西部的沙漠起飛開始，新謝潑德的旅程將持續10分鐘左右，四名乘客將在卡門線（太空與地球大氣層的分界線）上方停留4分鐘，在此期間艙內的4名乘客將能體驗零重力飛行，還可以透過每個座位旁的大舷窗從太空觀賞地球弧線。
此前，“新謝潑德號”已成功進行過十餘次試飛。
Bezos， who announced earlier this year he is stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive to spend more time on other projects， including Blue Origin， has said it was a lifelong dream to fly into space。
Blue Origin‘s New Shepard has successfully carried out more than a dozen uncrewed test runs from its facility in Texas’ Guadalupe Mountains。
Taking off from a desert in western Texas， the New Shepard trip will last 10 minutes， four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth‘s atmosphere and space。
After lift-off， the capsule separates from its booster， then spends four minutes at an altitude exceeding 60 miles （100 kilometers）， experience weightlessness and can observe the curvature of Earth。
The booster lands autonomously on a pad two miles from the launch site， and the capsule floats back to the surface with three large parachutes that slow it down to about a mile per hour when it lands。
The automated capsules with no pilot have six seats with horizontal backrests placed next to large portholes in a futuristic cabin with swish lighting。 Multiple cameras help immortalize the few minutes the space tourists experience weightlessness。
The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard， the first American in space 60 years ago。
富豪們的飛天夢推動太空旅行發展
從競爭激烈的拍賣也能看出，貝索斯絕對不是唯一一個“想上天”的富豪。
就在藍色起源緊鑼密鼓地準備自己的第一次載人飛行的同時，埃隆·馬斯克的SpaceX公司已經成功為美國國家航空航天局向國際空間站運送過宇航員。
這家創立於2002年的公司，立志將一艘名為“火星綠洲”（Mars Oasis）的飛船送上火星。
Blue Origin’s maiden crewed flight comes in a context of fierce competition in the field of private space exploration – with Elon Musk‘s SpaceX and Virgin Galactic， founded by British billionaire Richard Branson， all jostling for pole position。
Bezos has a very public rivalry with Musk， whose SpaceX is planning orbital flights that would cost millions of dollars and send people much further into space。
SpaceX has already begun to carry astronauts to the International Space Station and is a competitor for government space contracts。
Four astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission are inside the SpaceX capsule after landing in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City， Florida， U。S。， May 2， 2021。 /CFP
另一邊，由理查德·布蘭森建立的維珍銀河公司也致力於短暫離開地表的亞軌道飛行業務。
維珍銀河希望在2022年初開始定期的商業亞軌道飛行，最終計劃每年進行400次飛行。截至去年7月，維珍銀河表示他們已售出650多張太空旅票，賈斯汀·比伯、萊昂納多·迪卡普里奧、已故英國物理學家斯蒂芬·霍金等社會名流皆在購票名單內。
Virgin Galactic， meanwhile， hopes to begin regular commercial suborbital flights in early 2022， with eventual plans for 400 trips a year。
Some 600 people have booked flights， costing $200，000 to $250，000 – and there has been talk of Branson himself taking part in a test flight this summer， although no date has been set。
