[ti:Plan for First US Mission to the Moon Since Apollo Landing] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The first American spacecraft expected to land on the moon in nearly 50 years will be an unmanned robotic lander. [00:12.36]The aerospace company Astrobotic Technology [00:18.16]told Reuters it expects to launch the spacecraft named Peregrine [00:24.82]in the summer of 2021 from Florida's Cape Canaveral. [00:32.00]The company said Peregrine will be the first American spacecraft to land on the moon [00:39.44]since Apollo astronauts last touched down there in 1972. [00:47.92]The mission will bring technology and experiments to the moon to prepare for human flights by 2024. [00:59.28]The spacecraft will use the Vulcan rocket developed by an alliance between U.S. aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin. [01:12.84]Tory Bruno is chief executive of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). [01:20.16]Bruno told Reuters, "Our first flight on Vulcan is also the first big step in going back to the moon." [01:32.00]The Vulcan rocket was selected over the reusable rocket from SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk of carmaker Tesla. [01:46.16]It is powered by engines from Blue Origin, a company started by Jeff Bezos of Amazon. [01:56.96]Blue Origin also is working on a heavy-lift rocket. [02:03.76]Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [02:08.56]It is one of nine companies chosen by the American space agency NASA [02:15.38]to develop vehicles and technology to explore the lunar surface over the next ten years. [02:25.84]NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is pushing private companies to design and develop technology [02:35.97]for low-Earth orbit and lunar exploration. [02:41.36]He wants NASA to be one of many customers for the technology and to prepare for deeper space exploration. [02:52.56]For ULA, the launch serves as the first of two certification flights for the U.S. Air Force. [03:03.12]Vulcan will replace the older Delta and Atlas rockets. [03:10.00]Those rockets have been used for space missions and by the U.S. military for many years. [03:19.68]As the U.S. prepares to return to the moon, other countries have launched their own missions to the moon. [03:29.68]In January, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft successfully touched down on the far side of the moon. [03:40.52]An Israeli robotic lander, however, crashed on its final descent in April. [03:48.96]And India landed a Chandrayaan-2 rover in July. [03:55.92]The vehicle is on its way to the moon's south pole, unexplored by any other nation. [04:06.76]I'm Mario Ritter Jr. [04:08.97]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM