Cape Canaveral, June 09: A bad weather forecast in Florida forced NASA to postpone its latest Mars mission for a second day on Monday, delaying the launch of a robotic rover designed to see if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
Launch managers have now set Tuesday at 1:58 p.m. EDT for liftoff of the first of two Mars Expedition Rovers on a quest to learn whether liquid water existed on the Martian surface long enough to support life.

"Weather conditions similar to those experienced in yesterday`s launch attempt are anticipated again today and could be present at launch time," NASA spokesman George Diller said in announcing the delay.

The forecast for Tuesday improves considerably, with a 70 percent chance of acceptable skies at the Cape Canaveral launch site.

The robot rover, about the size of a riding lawn mower, will be joined in space by a twin scheduled for launch on June 25. The first is named "Spirit" and the second "Opportunity."
The two rovers, with a combined price tag of $800 million, are the most sophisticated robots ever sent to another planet and will land on opposite sides of Mars.

There is no fixed limit on how far they can range once they reach Mars, but mission planners said that after three months, dust settling on their solar-power panels could deprive them of power.

Japanese and European missions are already on their way to Mars. The crowded launch schedule takes advantage of a rare proximity between the planets that has cut the normal travel time of nine to 10 months to just seven months for missions launched this year.

Earlier Mars probes found the planet was once awash in water, but scientists hope the new rovers will be able to determine if it was present long enough to support life.
On Earth, wherever water occurs naturally, there is also evidence of life. Scientists believe that if that holds true for Mars as well, then life could have existed on the Red Planet. Bureau Report