波音打算带你去火星度假

最近波音的股价像坐了火箭——今年涨幅接近68%，但和该公司正在新奥尔良建造的那枚火箭相比，这根本不值一提。

本周三在华盛顿的《财富》最具影响力女性峰会上，波音国防、航天和安全业务首席执行官琳恩·卡雷特总结了这家飞机制造商的宇航梦：“我们正在打造最大的火箭，它将把我们送上火星。”

这枚为美国宇航局设计的火箭被称为太空发射系统，它将成为史上最强大的火箭。但对波音的宇宙飞船，卡雷特的脑海里有着更为实际的设想，其中包括休闲旅游和度假。她在会上这样问道：“有人想和我一起去火星度假吗？”

当然，在火星上度假所需的筹划工作甚至比在地球上最怪异的地方度假还要多一些。

卡雷特说：“登月比登上火星容易，因为往返于火星和地球之间要花那么长的时间。”她估计火星旅行的单程时长约为两年，“这取决于我们的年龄。”

卡雷特还开玩笑说：“你们可得把按揭全都还清了。出发前要把一切都打典好——可不能说，‘噢，我给他们发个电邮就行了。’”

这枚火箭刚开始飞往火星时不会载人，就像最初的几次登月一样。但最终会开启载人火星之旅——卡雷特说，“‘载人’的意思是有男性和女性”，她相信这件事在自己这辈子就能实现。

除了梦想着造访那颗红色星球，卡雷特还得确保波音的卫星顺利运转——美国政府要靠它们收集数据，消费者的智能手机要靠它们才得以实现无数的功能，比如GSP和基于方位的app。卡雷特解释说，这可不是小事，因为外国的间谍卫星和潜在攻击都构成了“有威胁的环境，而我们想要的是保险的地方” 。

登陆火星对卡雷特来说很特殊，这可不光是因为她想在地球以外度假。卡雷特的父母也曾在波音工作，他们是在为第一艘载人登月飞船“阿波罗”建造农神五号火箭时认识的，而且恰恰就是在卡雷特现在负责建造新火星火箭的路易斯安那州工厂里。她说：“这是多么神奇啊！”（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

If Boeing stock has seemed like a rocket lately—it’s up nearly 68% this year—that’s nothing compared to the one the company is building down in New Orleans.

Leanne Caret, CEO of Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security division, boiled down the aerospace manufacturer’s astronomical ambitions at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday: “We’re building the largest rocket that’s going to take us to Mars.”

Designed for NASA, the so-called Space Launch System will be the most powerful rocket in history. But Caret has a more practical purpose in mind for the Boeing (BA, +0.19%) spaceship, including leisure travel and vacation. “You want to go with me?” she asked at the conference.

Of course, vacationing on Mars would require some planning beyond what’s necessary for even the most exotic earthly destinations.

“The moon would be easier than Mars, because it takes you so long to get to Mars and back,” she said, estimating the length of the journey at around two years each way. “It depends on how old we are.”

“You have to be really paid up on your mortgage,” she joked. “You’ve got to have things kind of worked out before you leave—it’s not just, ‘Oh I’ll just email them, it’ll all be fine.'”

At first, the rocket will travel to Mars unmanned, just as the first trips to the moon were. Eventually, though, the missions to Mars will be manned—”‘manned’ being men and women,” said Caret, who believes it will happen in her lifetime.

When she’s not dreaming of visiting the red planet, Caret is also working to ensure the smooth operation of Boeing satellites, which are relied on by both the U.S. government for data collection, and consumers for myriad smartphone functions, such as GPS and location-based apps. That’s no small task, she explained, when the “threat environment” can range from Chinese spy satellites to a potential attack by North Korea. “We want assured space,” Caret said.

But the Mars mission is special to Caret not only because she looks forward to taking an extraterrestrial holiday. Her parents. who also worked for Boeing, met while building the Saturn V “Apollo” spacecraft that launched the first man to the moon—at the very same Louisiana factory where Caret is now overseeing the new Mars rocket, she said: “How ironic is that!”