[ti:Technical Issue Delays Indian Moon Mission] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.01]India has canceled the launch of a spacecraft shortly before it was supposed to leave Earth on a trip to the moon. [00:10.56]India's space agency said it delayed the launch of the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft early Monday after a "technical snag" was observed. [00:25.14]It reported in a message on Twitter the decision was made one hour before the planned lift-off as a safety measure. [00:34.92]The agency's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle is to lift the Chandrayaan-2 into space. [00:45.78]Vivek Singh is the media director for the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO. [00:56.65]He said experts were examining the technical issue. [01:01.92]He added that a new launch date would be announced later. [01:06.89]Chandrayaan is the Sanskrit word for "moon vehicle." [01:13.28]The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is designed to make a "soft," or controlled, landing on the moon's South Pole. [01:23.66]The spacecraft is carrying both a moon lander and robotic rover. [01:30.74]ISRO expects the rover to operate on the moon's surface for 14 days. [01:39.59]It will carry out experiments and search for signs of water. [01:45.41]K. Sivan is head of the ISRO. He said last week the Chandrayaan-2 mission was the nation's most complex space project yet. [02:01.20]This is partly because of the difficulties of completing a soft landing on the lunar surface. [02:09.72]The agency said that India has spent about $140 million on the Chandrayaan-2 mission. [02:20.13]If the spacecraft does successfully complete a soft landing, it would be only the fourth country to do so after the United States, Russia and China. [02:33.97]India deployed an unmanned spacecraft in an orbit around the moon in 2008. [02:42.74]That mission helped confirm the presence of water on the lunar surface. [02:49.29]A soft landing on the Moon would be a major step for India's space program. [02:57.30]Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to launch a crewed space mission by the year 2022. [03:07.43]India says it also plans to put a space station in Earth's orbit and launch a robotic mission to Mars. [03:18.20]The Indian mission would be the third attempted moon landing this year. [03:24.75]In January, China successful landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. [03:32.18]In April, an Israeli spacecraft attempted to land on the moon, but crashed shortly before reaching its target. [03:41.91]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM