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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.
今年早些时候，挪威航空公司透露，一名机组人员创造了次音速客机飞越大西洋的最快记录。该航班共用时5小时13分钟，比此前的记录快了3分钟。
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.
这很不错吧，但想象一下，在纽约上飞机，两小时后抵达伦敦，这可比传奇的协和式飞机完成同样旅程的平均用时快了1.5个小时。
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，他们正计划研发一种超声速客机，完成2小时从纽约到伦敦的飞行，它的速度能达到5马赫--大约3800英里每小时，或者说大约是声速的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.
虽然这款飞机仍是初步设计，尚无名字，可用于军事或民用，但在未来20到30年内不会出现。
The company unveiled renderings of the proposed craft last Tuesday at the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Atlanta.
上周二，该公司在亚特兰大举行的美国航空航天研究所年会上公布了这架计划中的飞机的效果图。
"We're excited about the potential to connect the world faster than ever before," said Naveed Hussain, Boeing's vice president of aeromechanics.
波音公司航空技术部门副总裁纳韦德·侯赛因表示：“我们很高兴看到这种以空前的速度连接世界的可能性。”
"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."
“尽管未来还有技术和监管方面的挑战，不过波音公司已经研究超音速60余年，当全世界准备好时，我们将是那个能让这项技术进入市场的公司。”
If achieved -- and if enough people are willing to pay for the pricey tickets -- the rapid speeds could revolutionize world travel, experts say.
有关专家表示，如果能够实现--且有足够多的人愿意为昂贵的机票买单--那么高速将会给世界旅行带来革命性的变化。
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.
根据路透社的新闻档案，7年前，协和式飞机曾以2小时52分59秒的速度完成了纽约和伦敦之间的飞行，一举创下了保持到今天的纪录。
