[ti:India Announces New Plans for Moon Landing in 2020] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]India has announced plans to land an unpiloted space vehicle on the moon in 2020. [00:09.76]The plans mark a continuation of India's drive to expand its space program. [00:18.36]The head of India's Space Research Organization, K. Sivan, made the announcement on January 1. [00:29.28]The planned mission, called Chandrayaan-3, aims to land an exploration vehicle on the moon's surface. [00:39.80]Chandrayaan is the Sanskrit word for "moon vehicle." [00:45.08]Sivan recently told reporters that mission planning had progressed "smoothly" so far. [00:54.00]"We are targeting the launch for this year, but it may spill over to next year," Sivan said. [01:02.64]Indian sources told the French news agency AFP that officials had set November as a target launch date. [01:13.20]India is seeking to become only the fourth nation to land on the moon's surface [01:19.56]-- after Russia, the United States and China. [01:25.08]Israel made an unsuccessful attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon last April. [01:33.04]India has worked to establish itself as a low-cost satellite launcher. [01:39.52]It is seeking to become a world space power. [01:43.40]However, the country's space program suffered a failed moon-landing attempt last September. [01:52.36]That mission, Chandrayaan-2, ended with the lander spacecraft crashing on the moon's surface. [02:02.04]Chandrayaan-2 had aimed to land on the south pole of the moon, [02:07.32]where no other lunar mission had gone before. [02:11.40]The area is believed to contain water because it is largely unaffected by the high temperatures of the sun. [02:21.36]Chandrayaan-3's explorer vehicle hopes to confirm the presence of water in the form of lunar ice, [02:30.08]which it first discovered during a mission in 2008. [02:36.24]Sivan said the new unpiloted mission is expected to cost about $35 million, with additional launch costs. [02:48.16]Sivan also announced that India had chosen four candidate astronauts [02:53.88]to take part in the country's first planned piloted mission into orbit. [03:00.80]That mission is set for late 2021 at the earliest. [03:06.64]The four candidates are expected to start training in Russia later this month. [03:13.16]Up to three astronauts are to take part in the flight. [03:18.40]The piloted mission is one of India's main planned projects [03:23.40]to mark the 75th anniversary of India's independence from British rule. [03:30.88]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM