Launch of second US Mars rover delayed by a day

Launch of second US Mars rover delayed by a day

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) — US space agency NASA said Tuesday that it has postponed the launch of Opportunity, the second of its twin Mars rovers, one day to June 26.

The announcement is expected after the launch of the first rover, named Spirit, was delayed two days by bad weather, giving NASA less time to prepare for the second launch in a month.

Spirit finally blasted off on June 10 and is now flying in ” good health” on its journey toward Mars, NASA said.

Technically, everything is going well with both Opportunity and the Delta 2 launching rocket. During the weekend, the Delta 2 team ran through a practice countdown at the Florida launching site and all went well, according to local media reports.

NASA scientists hope the two rovers, together costing 800 million US dollars, can help them better understand the role of water on Mars.

Spirit and Opportunity are scheduled to land in January 2004, separately, on Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum of Mars. Both landing sites are believed to hold evidence about liquid water in Mars’ history.