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.

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