Next stop——International Space Station

“It is such a big world waiting for me to explore.”

Miss Gu(Gu Shaoqiang)said in her resign letter which is hailed as the most sensational one in history.The letter made her famous overnight throughout China.There is a dream in many people`s heart.That is to travel around the world.How far have you gone by now? The North Pole? How high a mountain have you conquered?The Everest?

Now NASA（National Aeronautics and Space Administration）offers us a chance,also a challenge to go beyond the earth.That is the International Space Station（ISS）.

NASA plans to send passengers to the ISS as early as 2020.Of course,it is not cheap.According to the prediction,it’ll cost you $58 million which doesn’t include food,storage,and communication.During the 30-day trip in orbit,you will spend about$35,000 per night.

So you see,sometimes,money does make the call.Besides the huge amount of money,you still need some luck.A potential traveler has to past the medical testing and training.

Visitors will not make the trip in NASA spacecraft.Instead,the agency has made arrangements for private aerospace companies SpaceX and Boeing to carry passengers.

The program is part of NASA’s plan to open the space station to private enterprise.The station has become a burden for the U.S.government to keep up.The goal is to let private companies use the station now and someday run it on their own.This will allow NASA to focus time and money on sending astronauts to the moon in 2024.

“世界这么大，我想去看看。”

顾少强在她的辞职信里这样写道。这封被称为史上最具情怀的辞职信让顾老师一夜红遍中国。在很多人的心里，都有一个梦想，那就是：周游世界。你现在最远到过哪里？北极？爬过最高的山是哪一座山？珠穆朗玛？

美国航空航天局给大家提供了新的机会，也是挑战，那就是到远在地球之外的国际空间站旅游。

美国航空航天局计划最快在2020 年把人类送往国际空间站。当然，这趟旅行不便宜。预计费用是5800万美元，这还不包括食物、存储和交流。30 天的太空旅行，每天大约花费3 万5 千美元。

所以说，有时候钱真的很重要。除了大笔的钱，你还得幸运，得通过体检和训练。

美国航空航天局并不为游客提供太空飞船。而是通过和私人航天企业（太空探索科技公司及波音公司）合作，由它们负责接送乘客。

这是美国航空航天局向私人企业开放空间站计划的一部分。空间站已经让美国政府难以负担。近期计划是让私人公司使用空间站，最终目标是让它们接管。这样，美国航空航天局可以集中时间和金钱让宇航员在2024年再次登月。

Notes：

hail 认为；称为

sensational 轰动的；有情怀的

conquer征服；战胜