????“西南航空公司在其發(fā)展初期的精彩手筆乃是其商業(yè)模式——即認識到那些昂貴的資本資產(chǎn)（客機）停在地面上時賺不到一分錢。XCOR公司現(xiàn)在所做的事情也是根據(jù)那種理念。一旦把這個觀念推廣到火箭飛船的運作，所有人都能理解那是怎么一回事。如果你能夠在一天時間內(nèi)駕駛那些飛船升空4次，成本就會降下來?！?/p>

????盡管亞軌道的游客會經(jīng)歷約5分鐘的失重狀態(tài)，但希爾福斯認為地圖的景象是一種“深刻得多的”體驗?！澳憧吹降膱D景會烙印在自己的大腦當(dāng)中。對我來說，那是改變?nèi)松捏w驗，大多數(shù)亞軌道游客也將有相同的體驗。”

????最后，XCOR公司希望擁有一支在全球范圍內(nèi)運營的“山貓?zhí)枴憋w船艦隊，提供很多不同的太空視角。公司的管理團隊正考慮銷售一種“六大洲通行證”。

????“亞軌道旅游就要來了，”希爾福斯說?！八辉偈鞘劳馓以?，也不再是太空夢想者的夢想，它真的要來了?！睋?jù)希爾福斯稱，XCOR公司的高管已經(jīng)開始設(shè)想太空旅游變得司空見慣的那一天。XCOR公司首席工程師丹?德隆放言：“我想在月球上退休！”而公司首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?格雷森則說：“我想在火星上退休！”

????“伙計們，”希爾福斯稱自己當(dāng)時告訴這兩位：“你們倆都瘋了，我想在德哈查比退休。我一周只想飛到太空三到四次?！?財富中文網(wǎng))

????譯者：王燦均

????"The brilliant thing Southwest Airlines did in the early days was their business model—the recognition that those expensive capital assets aren't making a penny sitting on the ground. Those kinds of philosophies are what XCOR is doing. That's stuff no one's thought about when it comes to rocket operations. If you're able to fly one of these vehicles four times a day, that just drives the cost way down."

????While suborbital tourists will experience about five minutes of weightlessness, Searfoss found the view of earth a "much more profound" experience. "The images that are seared into the brain that you see—that's the life-changing experience for me. That's going to be the case for most people who do the suborbital thing."

????Ultimately, XCOR hopes to have a fleet of Lynxes operating around the world, with each offering a vastly different vantage point from space. Its management team muses about selling a "six-continent pass."

????"It's coming," says Searfoss. "It's not just la-la land or space dreamers stuff. This is really coming." XCOR executives have already begun musing about the day when space travel is commonplace, according to Searfoss. "I want to retire on the moon!" says chief engineer Dan DeLong. "I want to retire on Mars!" says CEO Jeff Greason.

????"Guys," Searfoss says he's told them, "You're both crazy. I want to retire in Tehachapi. I just want to fly to space three or four times a week."