Mission to Mars delayed to fix robots

WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 16, 2003
NASA has delayed the launch of the first of two missions to Mars, to fix a problem in its Rover robots that could cause them to short-circuit, the US space agency said Tuesday.

The May 30 launch date for the first Rover mission has been delayed by at least a week, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California said.

The problem stems from the system that Rover uses to sever the cables that connect it to the Boeing Delta II rocket. Rover must cut itself loose before it can land on Mars.

Test runs detected a problem in Rover's system that could cause it to misinterpret the signal to cut the cables, with potentially disastrous consequences for the mission, Guy Webster of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.

Both Rover robots will have to be taken apart at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they have already arrived ahead of the launch.

The earliest possible date for the second launch is June 25.

SPACE.WIRE