MER Rover Mission Delayed Yet Again

NASA's Opportunity mission to Mars is going nowhere fast. Launch of the second rover vehicle was delayed for the fourth time Sunday afternoon because anvil clouds were spotted on the horizon shortly before lifoff.

"The launch has been postponed for at least an additional 24 hours," NASA spokesman George Diller said on Sunday. It's a checkered start for the second rover mission, after several delays hampered the launch of the first rover, Spirit, earlier this month. Late Saturday night, Opportunity's launch was scrubbed when a fishing boat wandered into restricted waters near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was delayed yet again on Saturday because of unacceptably high winds. There were two launch windows on Sunday. The first was ruled out because of a problem in the cork insulation lining the Delta II rocket's first stage. Seems the cork wouldn't stick. It's the same problem found on the MER rocket last week, when the cork insulation was completely replaced.

When it launches, Opportunity will make it four American, European and Japanese spacecraft on their way to the red planet, taking advantage of a quirk in planetary orbits that puts Earth and Mars closer together than they've been in 15,000 years. Like its twin, Spirit, Opportunity will search Mars for signs that water once existed in abundance there.

FMI: www.mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer