波音計劃研發超聲速客機 倫敦到紐約僅需2小時

Earlier this year, a Norwegian Air flight said one crew set a record time for the fastest transatlantic flight by a subsonic passenger aircraft. The time: 5 hours and 13 minutes, besting the previous record, which was three minutes longer.

今年早些時候，挪威航空公司透露，一名機組人員創造了次音速客機飛越大西洋的最快記錄。該航班共用時5小時13分鐘，比此前的記錄快了3分鐘。

Not bad, but imagine boarding a plane in New York and arriving in London two hours later, about 1.5 hours faster than the time it took the legendary Concorde to complete the same journey on average.

這很不錯吧，但想象一下，在紐約上飛機，兩小時後抵達倫敦，這可比傳奇的協和式飛機完成同樣旅程的平均用時快了1.5個小時。

Boeing said it hopes to develop a passenger-carrying hypersonic airliner that would do exactly that, reaching speeds of Mach 5 -- about 3,800 mph, or roughly five times the speed of sound.

近日，波音公司透露，他們正計劃研發一種超聲速客機，完成2小時從紐約到倫敦的飛行，它的速度能達到5馬赫--大約3800英里每小時，或者說大約是聲速的5倍。

Though still a preliminary design and without a name, Boeing said the aircraft could have military or civilian applications but won't be in the sky for another 20 to 30 years.

雖然這款飛機仍是初步設計，尚無名字，可用於軍事或民用，但在未來20到30年內不會出現。

The company unveiled renderings of the proposed craft last Tuesday at the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Atlanta.

上週二，該公司在亞特蘭大舉行的美國航空航天研究所年會上公佈了這架計劃中的飛機的效果圖。

"We're excited about the potential to connect the world faster than ever before," said Naveed Hussain, Boeing's vice president of aeromechanics.

波音公司航空技術部門副總裁納韋德·侯賽因表示：“我們很高興看到這種以空前的速度連接世界的可能性。”

"Although technology and regulatory challenges are ahead, Boeing has been studying hypersonics for over six decades, which makes us the right company to bring this technology to market when the world is ready."

“儘管未來還有技術和監管方面的挑戰，不過波音公司已經研究超音速60餘年，當全世界準備好時，我們將是那個能讓這項技術進入市場的公司。”

If achieved -- and if enough people are willing to pay for the pricey tickets -- the rapid speeds could revolutionize world travel, experts say.

有關專家表示，如果能夠實現--且有足夠多的人願意爲昂貴的機票買單--那麼高速將會給世界旅行帶來革命性的變化。

Seven years earlier, a Concorde made the trip between New York and London in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds, setting a record that remains, according to Reuters' news archives.

根據路透社的新聞檔案，7年前，協和式飛機曾以2小時52分59秒的速度完成了紐約和倫敦之間的飛行，一舉創下了保持到今天的紀錄。