This is due to wiring problems in the second stage of a missile made by Boeing * update later
At midnight last night, US time, the launch from Cape Canaveral was delayed due to a fishing boat entering the launch area, strong winds prevented another launch early Sunday morning
NASA has postponed the launch of the second of two vehicles intended for Mars.
The SUV "Opportunity" is already inside the third stage of the launch vehicle that was supposed to be launched four minutes before 0400 GMT (2356 midnight EST USA, 06:56 Sunday Israel time) , but the mission was delayed for at least 24 hours due to strong winds blowing in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Opportunity is the second vehicle built to reach and tour the surface of Mars on a three-month mission to explore the red planet. The vehicle will take off into space on a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.
The mission was supposed to begin almost a week ago, but Boeing insisted on making some changes to the wiring and piping on the second stage of the rocket, which were not sufficiently reinforced.
The launch of a shuttle to Mars was postponed twice tonight
from the news agencies
The launch of a space shuttle to Mars was postponed twice tonight. Early this morning, the US space agency (NASA) postponed its launch a few minutes before it was supposed to take place, due to strong winds in the launch area at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The first launch was supposed to take place at midnight, but was postponed after a fishing boat entered a restricted area near the launch. Then the winds started. George Diller, a spokesman for NASA, emphasized that the two delays were caused by objective reasons, unrelated to the condition of the shuttle. Another launch attempt should be made in the evening.
The shuttle carries a robot designed to search for water sources on the surface of the planet closest to Earth. The robot is one of two Mars Rover robots - a device in the shape and size of a golf cart, which is suitable for a three-month stay on the surface of the planet. The robot, called "Opportunity", is supposed to join a first-of-its-kind spacecraft, "Spirit", which was launched on June 10, and the two will reach Mars together in early January.
NASA does not expect the rover robots to find signs of life on Mars. However, if they manage to find evidence of the existence of water sources, scientists will be able to understand if in the past there were conditions on the planet that allowed the formation of life. The two robots, which have six wheels, were able to collect samples of rocks and soil, perform various tests on them, and send the results for analysis to a laboratory in Pasadena, California, where the mission's command center is located.
The two spacecraft will join the shuttles of the European Union and Japan, which are already on their way to Mars. All four missions take advantage of the rare proximity that now exists between Earth and Mars, about 180 million kilometers - the shortest distance between the two planets is 15 thousand years. The relative proximity shortens the journey to Mars from nine months to only seven.
