????再次提高太空探索門檻的任務還是交給靠高科技發家的億萬富豪吧。保羅?艾倫打算打造史上最大的飛機【機翼長達385英尺（約合117米）】，對于世界各地的極客們來說，這肯定是一個特大喜訊。這架飛機將由艾倫新創的平流層發射系統公司（Stratolaunch Systems）制造，它并不是供乘客出游之用，至少最初階段不是這樣。其意圖在于，從3萬英尺（約合9,144米）的高空向太空發射火箭，從而一舉摒棄代價高昂的發射臺。

????隨著這則消息的公布，艾倫終于重返他于10年前離開的“太空極客”兄弟會。10年前，他和伯特?魯坦合作開發了第一艘私營的載人飛船“太空船一號（SpaceShipOne）”。這個兄弟會還有3位杰出成員。理查德?布蘭森（估計資產凈值：42億美元）的“維珍銀河號（Virgin Galactic）”打算進行亞軌道太空之旅。搭乘艾倫這架飛機的火箭將由馬一龍（估計資產凈值：6.8億美元）旗下的太空探索技術公司（SpaceX）制造生產。伯特?魯坦的公司將成為這架飛機的制造商。亞馬遜網站（Amazon）創始人杰夫?貝索斯（估計資產凈值：191億美元）創建的“藍色起源”(Blue Origin)公司，也在努力開發人類太空旅行業務。

????在被問及他打算向平流層發射系統公司投資多少錢時（艾倫是唯一的投資者），艾倫閃爍其詞，不愿給出確切的數字?！帮@然，這不是一筆小買賣，”他在接受《紐約時報》（The New York Times）采訪時說。艾倫試圖聲稱，他這樣做是有利益動機的：“這顯然是一筆很大的初始投資，要是我們覺得未來在貨運和載人飛行領域不會有很多客戶的話，我們就不會投這筆錢了。”

????貨運？拜托，保羅。您就直接承認吧。這樣做壓根就不是為了賺錢，而是為了用您閑置在家中的大宗現鈔干一件非?？岬氖虑椤＞蛻{這一點，我們得向您致敬。

????作為富翁，艾倫并沒有贏得多少尊敬。大約10年前，我的一位前同事勞拉?里奇曾寫過一本書：《意外的超級富豪：揭開保羅?艾倫的神秘面紗》（The Accidental Zillionaire: Demystifying Paul Allen）。這個書名說出了一個公認的看法：比爾?蓋茨和史蒂夫?鮑爾默才是微軟公司（Microsoft）真正的大腦。至于艾倫嘛，他發財純粹是運氣使然。艾倫的財富在1999年一度高達400億美元，自那以后，他因為好幾筆考慮欠妥的投資而備受嘲諷。此外，在一些人的心目中，艾倫儼然成為造就他的“硅谷城”中一位靠吃專利發家的惡棍。

????個人財富抵達頂峰之后的12年中，艾倫的現金儲備一直呈穩步下降的趨勢，最近的身價估計為132億美元。盡管比爾?蓋茨的財富也嚴重縮水（他的財富一度高達850億美元），但沒有那么厲害：艾倫如今的財富僅相當于峰值的33%，蓋茨則設法保住了69%的資產，約590億美元。1999年的時候，艾倫要比沃倫?巴菲特更富有（這位奧馬哈先知那時僅擁有310億美元的財富），但現如今，巴菲特的身價足足是艾倫的3倍。艾倫沒有對此作出回應。

????但我寫這篇文章不是為了批評艾倫，而是為了贊揚他。畢竟，一位億萬富翁要那么多錢干嘛？

????Leave it to a tech billionaire to once again raise the bar on space exploration. With news that Paul Allen plans to build the largest plane ever—the wings will be 385 feet long—geeks all over the world are surely rejoicing. The plane, which will be made by Allen's new company, Stratolaunch Systems, isn't for passenger travel, at least initially. It's meant to launch rockets into space from 30,000 feet, thereby eliminating costly launching pads.

????With the announcement, Allen rejoins the "geeks-in-space" fraternity that he walked away from a decade ago after he and Burt Rutan developed SpaceShipOne, the first privately manned rocket to reach space. There are three other prominent members of the frat. Richard Branson (estimated net worth: $4.2 billion) has Virgin Galactic, which is aiming for suborbital space travel. Elon Musk ($680 million), whose SpaceX makes rockets and will make the rockets that hitch a ride on Allen's plane. (Burt Rutan's company will make the actual plane.) And Amazon's (AMZN) Jeff Bezos ($19.1 billion) with Blue Origin, also focused on human space flight.

????When asked how much he planned to invest in Stratolaunch—Allen is the sole investor—he demurred. "Obviously, this is not inexpensive," he told The New York Times. Allen tried to claim there was a profit motive at play: "This is obviously a big initial investment that we wouldn't be making if we didn't think there were going to be a lot of customers out there, both for cargo and manned missions in the future."

????Cargo? Come on, Paul. You can admit it—this is not about making money. It's about doing something cool with those big bushels of cash you have sitting around your house. And for that, we salute you.

????As far as the rich go, Allen doesn't get much respect. Almost ten years ago, Laura Rich, a former colleague of mine, wrote The Accidental Zillionaire: Demystifying Paul Allen. The title said it all: the received wisdom was that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were the real brains behind Microsoft (MSFT), and Allen, whose fortune peaked at $40 billion in 1999, was, well, accidentally rich. He's been ridiculed for a number of ill-conceived investments since then, as well as for turning into a scourge of the figurative town that made him—Silicon Valley—in the guise of a patent troll.

????In the twelve years since it peaked, Allen's cash pile has dwindled steadily downward, to a recently estimated $13.2 billion. That said, Bill Gates, who peaked at $85 billion, is down substantially as well. But not by nearly as much: whereas Allen's fortune is today worth just 33% of its high, Gates has managed to hold onto 69% of his, or $59 billion. Allen, who didn't respond to a request for comment, was richer than Warren Buffett in 1999—the Oracle of Omaha was just worth $31 billion—but today Buffett is worth three times as much.

????But I come here not to criticize Allen, but to praise him. After all, how much money does a billionaire really need?