Focus Now Turns To Mars Phoenix Mission

NASA told ANN Saturday the launch of the oft-delayed Dawn spacecraft, a mission that will explore the asteroids Ceres and Vespa, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has been rescheduled to September.

The decision was made to move the launch to September after review by NASA's Science Mission Directorate officials, working with Dawn mission managers, the Dawn principal investigator, and with the concurrence of the NASA Administrator.

Primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited launch opportunities for Dawn in July and the potential impact to launch preparations for the upcoming Phoenix Mars Lander mission, set for early August. NASA says a September launch for Dawn maintains all of the science mission goals a July launch would have provided, while also giving the space agency some additional breathing room regarding other planned missions.

As ANN reported, logistical difficulties and concerns about weather on launch day had forced NASA to postpone a planned July 8 launch by one day -- after the mission had already been bumped from its June launch date after a crane used to stack segments of the Delta II booster at the Cape broke down. A worker's wrench also fell on the spacecraft's solar panel during a procedure to prepare the spacecraft for spin-balance testing, though it did not damage any cells.

Late last month, some at NASA questioned whether the planned July launch was overly optimistic, due to continuing glitches with the Delta II launch rocket, and difficulties with coordinating launch support. There were also concerns continued delays with Dawn would impact launch of the Phoenix mission, which must blast off by August 25 in order to reach Mars.

Phoenix will examine whether the icy soil on Mars could have been a habitable environment for microbial life, according to the space agency.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/phoenix, www.nasa.gov/dawn