VirginGalacticsaiditsfirstpassengerflightswouldn'toccurbefore2013．RichardBranson'sspacetourismventuresaidithopedtolaunchtheserviceintwoyears，buteventhatdatewasn'tfixed．Thefirm'scommercialdirector，StephenAttenb

　　VirginGalacticsaiditsfirstpassengerflightswouldn'toccurbefore2013．RichardBranson'sspacetourismventuresaidithopedtolaunchtheserviceintwoyears，buteventhatdatewasn'tfixed．Thefirm'scommercialdirector，StephenAttenborough，toldtheBBCthatitscustomers？safetywasvital．Testflightsarecurrentlyunderway，withrocket-poweredtestsscheduledtostartnextyear．

　　Almost500peoplehaveboughttickets．Richardhadoriginallyhopedthefirstcommercialspacecraft，SpaceshipTwo，wouldtakeoffasearlyas2007．However，Mr．Attenboroughstressedthereneverwasanofficialdatesetforthefirstlaunch．

　　StephenAttenboroughcriticizedsomepressreports，particularlyanarticleintheWallStreetJournal，whichdescribedthe2013goalas"yetanotherdelay"．

　　"Thisisaprogrammethatcan'thaveahard-enddateassafetyisnumberonepriority，"Mr．Attenboroughsaid，"Ourfootisflatonthegas．Wehaveproventechnology，wehaveaspaceportthatopenedlastweek，andthetestflightprogrammeiswelladvanced-----Idon'tthinkyoucanaskforalotmorefromaprogrammelikethis．Adelayisastrangeword，andthereisnodelay．"

　　KeithColmer，aformerAirForcetestpilot，waschosenfrommorethan500applicants，amongthemahandfulofastronauts．TheBBC，sRichardScottwasthefirstjournalisttobeallowedinsidetheVirginGalacticspaceship．

　　RichardhasheldanofficialceremonyforthelaunchpadforthespacetourismventureintheNewMexicodeserton18，October．Heplanstotakethefirstflight，accompaniedbyhischildren．

　　Mr．Attenboroughsaidthatalthoughallofthefuturetouristswereeagertotakeofftospace，nonewerepushingforanearlyflight．"Theyarewillingtoputalargea-mountofmoneyupfrontbecausetheytrustus，becausetheyknowwewillonlytakethemtospaceifit'ssafetodoso，"hesaid．

　　The2.5-hourflightswillofferfiveminutesofweightlessness．Ticketscost$200，000．

　　68．WhatStephenAttenboroughvaluedmostis___．

　　A．thenumberoftourists B．thecostofacommercialflight

　　C．thesafetyoftourists D．theprocessofthelaunch

　　69．WhatdoweknowaboutRichardaccordingtothepassage？___