Fishing Boat Meanders Through Restricted Zone, Forcing
Cancellation
They were out fishing for
Marlin. They caught hell, after a small fishing boat wandered into
the restricted zone near the Kennedy Space Center, off the coast of
southern Florida. The security intrusion forced NASA to postpone
the launch of its second Mars rover. Adding insult to injury, high
winds prevented the Delta II launch again early Sunday morning.
The rover, dubbed "Opportunity," was supposed to follow by about
two weeks the launch of its twin, "Spirit." Landing in different
hemispheres of the Red Planet, the two probes will look for signs
of water - frozen or not - as a possible precursor to life on Mars.
Like its twin, Opportunity's launch has been delayed again and
again, because of weather and because of a technical glitch with
the cork insulation surrounding the rocket.
Close Encounter
The two NASA probes are part of an international entourage of
vehicles and orbiters headed to or already circling Mars, as the
orbits of Mars and Earth bring the two planets closer than they've
been in more than 60,000 years. The European Union earlier this
month launched its Beagle II probe, designed to analyze rock
specimens for signs of fossils that would indicate life existed on
Mars long ago. NASA's Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey are already
in orbit around the fourth planet, patiently mapping the surface,
on the hunt for signs of water or signs of life.
"It's one of the most intensive explorations of another planet
in history," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's
Office of Space Science. "Literally, the world is going to
Mars."
Jinxed?
Over the past three
decades, there have been nine attempts to land a vehicle on Mars,
then send it off to explore the neighborhood. Only three of those
attempts have succeeded. The rest have been very expensive
failures. Together, the Mars Rovers cost taxpayers about $800
million dollars. "One for three is a good batting average in
baseball," Weiler told the Associated Press. "But when these things
cost so much it's not that great for space."
The next opportunity for launch is at 11:46:14 p.m. EDT, June
29. A second opportunity exists at 12:28:07 a.m. EDT, June 30. For
now, the weather forecast for the next launch opportunity shows a
slight improvement with a 30 percent chance of violation of weather
criteria.