New postponement for Mars probe launch

WASHINGTON (AFP) Jul 06, 2003
The US space agency NASA Sunday postponed for the fifth time the launch of a robot probe to explore the surface of Mars, while warning that another postponement may be necessary.

Launch of the Opportunity probe had been scheduled for late Sunday, but now has been postponed until Monday at either 10:35 pm (0235 GMT Tuesday) or 11:18 pm (0318 GMT Tuesday), NASA said in a statement..

"The delay is due to the failure of a battery cell associated with the component of a launch vehicle flight termination system. The battery must be removed or replaced," the statement said.

NASA said there was a 30-percent chance weather may force another postponement of the launch.

Opportunity was originally set for launch June 25, but its flight has been delayed several times by weather and technical problems.

Spirit, the first of the twin probes in the US mission, took off June 10.

SPACE.WIRE