Virgin seeks to revive supersonic commercial flight

Virgin seeks to revive supersonic commercial flight

維珍試圖復興超音速商用客機

【摘要2020.8.11.自由】◎黃靖媗

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic on Monday announced a partnership with engine-maker Rolls-Royce to build a supersonic commercial airplane that flies at three times the speed of sound.

太空旅遊公司「維珍銀河」週一宣布，將與引擎製造商「勞斯萊斯」合作，打造一款超音速商用客機，以音速的3倍飛行。

"We are excited to unveil this initial design concept of a high speed aircraft, which we envision as blending safe and reliable commercial travel with an unrivalled customer experience," said George Whitesides, chief space officer at Virgin Galactic.

「我們很興奮揭露這款高速飛機的初始設計，我們可以預見這架飛機兼有安全性，與具有無與倫比顧客體驗的可靠商務差旅」，維珍銀河執行長懷賽德說。

The aircraft’s draft design showed a plane with a triangular "delta wing" carrying between nine and 19 passengers at an altitude of more than 18,000 meters － about twice as high as normal commercial flight.

這架飛機的草圖設計，展現一架有三角形機翼的飛機，可搭載9到19名乘客，飛行於海拔1.8萬公尺以上的高空，約為正常商用客機的2倍高。

Virgin Galactic said its team would "work to address key challenges in thermal management, maintenance, noise, emissions, and economics that routine high speed commercial flights would entail."

維珍銀河表示，該公司團隊將會「努力克服在熱流管理、維護、噪音、污染等重大挑戰，以及高速商用固定航班所必須面對的經濟學」。

新聞辭典

revive：動詞，復興、復甦。例句：To revive tourism, the government announced travel subsidy scheme.（為了復甦觀光業，政府宣布旅遊補助計畫。）

unrivalled：形容詞，無與倫比的。例句：We wished you can have a unrivalled experience in the villa.（我們希望您可以在這座度假村中，擁有無與倫比的體驗。）

entail：動詞，必須、牽涉。例句：Rebuilding the village will entail spending a lot of time.（重建這座村莊必須耗費許多時間。）