美國國家航空航天局（NASA）可能很快與維珍航空創始人理查德·布蘭森、亞馬遜掌門人杰夫·貝佐斯和SpaceX總裁埃隆·馬斯克同場較量，在商業化太空旅行領域展開競爭。

據《華盛頓郵報》報道，在布蘭森、貝佐斯和馬斯克等億萬富翁旗下的維珍銀河、藍色起源和SpaceX競相宣傳太空旅行服務之后，NASA正考慮向個人售票，提供乘坐運載火箭從地球往返國際空間站的服務。

這將是美國官方首次開展商業太空航行，但俄羅斯從2001年開始就已將游客送入太空。太空與航天領域資訊網站Space.com曾發文介紹，2001年美國商人丹尼斯·蒂托支付了2000萬美元，登上俄羅斯宇宙飛船聯盟號前往國際空間站。之后俄羅斯的航天項目一直將民間乘客送上太空，而且據資訊網站Jalopnick報道，俄羅斯已考慮在國際空間站建一家豪華酒店，游客可支付2000萬美元在太空度假兩周。

NASA的商業太空旅行想法還在醞釀初期，主要希望通過此類行動重回大眾視野，縮小政府部門與民間私營部門的差距。《華盛頓郵報》指出，NASA的宇宙飛船可能由SpaceX或者波音公司制造。

NASA的局長吉姆·布里登斯坦在今年8月的一次演講中表示：“希望有一天，NASA的宇航員能出現在麥片盒的包裝上，真正融入美國的文化。”此外，他對推廣品牌的建議是“在流行文化中提升航天活動的曝光度”，個人參與太空旅行可能有助于提升NASA在公眾心目中的形象。

上周五，NASA的一個下屬委員會已表示支持，但還要獲得NASA顧問委員會全體通過，最后還要布里登斯坦批準，個人前往太空旅行才可能成為現實，（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審稿：夏林

NASA might soon be joining Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk in the space-for-profit race.

After watching the billionaires’ respective Virgin Galaxy, Blue Origin, and SpaceX race to blast tourists out of the earth’s atmosphere, NASA is considering a proposal to sell private citizens tickets aboard rockets to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the Washington Post reports.

Although this would be a first for the United States, Russia has been sending tourists to space since 2001, when Space.com writes that American businessman Dennis Tito paid $20 million to board the Soyuz to the ISS. The Russian space program has continued to send private citizens to space and, according to Jalopnick, has floated the idea of building a luxury hotel aboard the ISS that travelers could book for a $20 million, two-week vacation.

NASA is still in the early stages of considering commercial space flight, a move that the agency hopes would return it to the public eye and bridge a gap with the private sector. The Post notes that NASA could sell seats on crafts built by SpaceX or Boeing.

“I’d like to see, maybe one day, NASA astronauts on the cover of a cereal box, embedded into the American culture,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in an August presentation. On top of his suggestion to sell branding “to enhance the exposure of space activities in the popular culture,” privatized space travel could be another move to increase NASA’s hold on public consciousness.

Although the proposal was backed by a NASA subcommittee on last Friday, it would have to be approved by the entire advisory council and then Bridenstine before dreams of bumming a ride into space become more of a reality.