The Rich Are Eyeing Space Tourism, Poll Says

The Rich Are Eyeing Space Tourism, Poll Says (2002/05/28)

民意調(diào)查顯示美國富人向往太空旅行 (2002/05/28)

Rich Americans are willing to take conspicuous consumption to new heights by spending big bucks to fly into space, including paying 0,000 for a 15-minute trip into the heavens, according to a poll released on Monday.

Possibly bored by the banal baubles of mundane Mother Earth or inspired by the dashing derring-do of such pioneers as first American in space Alan Shepard and first millionaire in space Dennis Tito, the poll says 7 percent of rich Americans would pay million for a two-week orbital flight and 19 percent would pay 0,000 for 15-minute sub-orbital flight.

The poll by Zogby International was commissioned by Futron Corp., a Maryland aerospace consulting group which has a .8 million contract with NASA to explore the commercial applications of space travel, including what space tourism could look like in the next 20 years.

Zogby International conducted telephone interviews with 450 Americans whose yearly incomes exceed 0,000 or whose net worth exceeds million. The polls, conducted in January but only released Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percent.

Futron's NASA project program manager Derek Webber said, "We commissioned this survey in order to get an idea of what rich people think and not the man in the street who loves the idea of going into space but can't afford it."

He added, "We are saying these trips will cost a minimum of 0,000 for a 15-minute trip, which was the amount of time the first American in space, Alan Shepard, had and for that you get to feel space weightlessness and see the world from up there." that trip would take a tourist 50 miles (80 km) into space.

Webber said a surprising 7 percent of the wealthy polled said they would be willing to take a two-week flight to an orbiting space station, paying the million that the Russians charged the two pioneering space tourists who have already made the trip, South African Mark Shuttleworth and American Dennis Tito.

If the price dropped to million, 16 percent of those surveyed would be interested.

Space tourists would have to meet medical standards and only be able to go to the International Space Station.

'N Sync singer Lance Bass is currently undergoing tests to see if he could become the third space tourist. He wants to become the first entertainer in space.

(Agencies)

美國日前公布的一項民意調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示美國的富翁們大都原意花上大筆的錢去嘗試太空旅行，比如支付10萬美金在太空進行僅15分鐘的航行。

也許是由于厭倦了地球上的平常的事物或是因為受到了那些勇敢者，如美國第一個太空人艾倫·謝菲爾德和第一個進行太空旅行的美國富翁丹尼斯·蒂托的鼓舞，調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示有7%的美國富人愿意花2千萬美元參加為期兩周的太空軌道環(huán)繞旅行。還有19%的人愿意掏10萬美元參加另一種只有15分鐘的太空飛行。

這次的民意調(diào)查是由一家馬里蘭航空咨詢公司Furton Corp.委托佐格比國際公司進行的，F(xiàn)urton公司與美國國家航空和宇宙航行局簽定了價值180萬美元的合同，該公司將在未來的20年中和航空和宇宙航行局合作開發(fā)太空旅行的申請的有關(guān)事宜。

佐格比國際公司對450名年收入超過25萬美元或財產(chǎn)凈值超過100萬美元的美國人進行了電話采訪。這次調(diào)查于今年1月開始進行，其結(jié)果本周三才公布，這樣的調(diào)查結(jié)果可能存在4.7%左右的偏差。

Furton公司中負(fù)責(zé)與航天局合作項目的經(jīng)理德里克·韋伯說："我們進行這次調(diào)查的目的是為了知道那些有錢人究竟是怎樣看待太空旅行的，如果隨便在街上找個人問他，有什么想法，結(jié)果很有可能發(fā)現(xiàn)他很感興趣，但是付不起錢。"

他補充說："從艾倫·謝菲爾的經(jīng)歷來看，這個僅15分鐘的旅行需花費至少10萬美元，而對于其他即將經(jīng)歷這些的人來說，他們可以有機會體驗失重的感覺，可以從高處俯瞰這個地球。"在旅行中，飛船將把人帶到離地面50英里（80公里）的上空。

韋伯說，他非常驚訝，竟然有7%的有錢人愿意象南非富翁馬克·沙特爾沃斯和美國富翁丹尼斯·蒂托一樣，花2千萬美元沿著軌道飛行一周。

如果可以將15萬美元降至5萬美元，就會有16%的人愿意參加。

參加太空旅行，游客的身體狀況必須達(dá)到一定的要求，而且他們只能去國際空間站。

美國五人男子組合"超級男孩"的成員蘭斯·巴斯將進行登陸太空檢查，他希望自己成為娛樂界首位登陸太空的歌手。

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