jjcollins
19 Jun 03, 10:06 PM
NASA aims to launch next week the second of two rovers it's sending to the surface of Mars on separate missions to prospect for evidence the Red Planet was once a warmer, wetter place hospitable to life.
The six-wheeled robot, named Opportunity, is set for launch early Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Its launch was delayed a day by setbacks to the earlier liftoff of the first rover, Spirit. NASA launched Spirit on June 10.
NASA has scheduled Opportunity for launch Thursday at 12:27 a.m. EDT, with a backup slot at 1:08 a.m. EDT. If delayed further, NASA has through July 15 to launch the 400-pound rover to ensure its Jan. 25 arrival at Mars.
On Thursday, NASA was preparing to fine-tune for the first time the path Spirit is following to Mars. The first of as many as six rocket-firings, called trajectory correction maneuvers, was expected to occur Friday.
Spirit is scheduled to reach Mars on Jan. 4.
The $800 million double mission aims to send the twin wheeled robots roaming across the surface of Mars to prospect for minerals that would indicate whether the planet could have harbored life.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/spacecraft/browse/liverover_br.jpg
jj......... :light:
The six-wheeled robot, named Opportunity, is set for launch early Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Its launch was delayed a day by setbacks to the earlier liftoff of the first rover, Spirit. NASA launched Spirit on June 10.
NASA has scheduled Opportunity for launch Thursday at 12:27 a.m. EDT, with a backup slot at 1:08 a.m. EDT. If delayed further, NASA has through July 15 to launch the 400-pound rover to ensure its Jan. 25 arrival at Mars.
On Thursday, NASA was preparing to fine-tune for the first time the path Spirit is following to Mars. The first of as many as six rocket-firings, called trajectory correction maneuvers, was expected to occur Friday.
Spirit is scheduled to reach Mars on Jan. 4.
The $800 million double mission aims to send the twin wheeled robots roaming across the surface of Mars to prospect for minerals that would indicate whether the planet could have harbored life.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/spacecraft/browse/liverover_br.jpg
jj......... :light: