Cape Canaveral (Florida), July 08: After nearly two
weeks of delays, a rocket holding NASA's second Mars Rover was
launched into a night sky yesterday on a mission to study
whether the Red Planet ever had enough water to sustain life.
The rover, opportunity, lifted off in a cloud of
steam aboard a Delta II heavy rocket at 11:18 PM EDT (0848
IST today). NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe flew to the
Cape Canaveral Air Force station to watch the launch.
The launch had been postponed more than a half-dozen
times because of bad weather, a failed battery cell and a
nagging problem with cork insulation failing to stick to the
aluminum rocket.
Technical problems continued to plague the launch
last night. Launch officials halted the countdown with seven
seconds left during the first launch opportunity at 10:35 PM
EDT (0765 IST today) because of a problem with a valve on the
rocket.
NASA had until July 15 to launch opportunity before
earth and Mars became too far apart. The next chance would be
in four years.
The failed battery cell was discovered over the
weekend and replaced. Fixing the cork on the Delta II heavy
rocket had been more challenging.
The cork is believed to have peeled off from the
rocket during fueling, when minus-300-degree F liquid oxygen
is loaded into the rocket. Workers replaced pieces of the
cork and used a stronger adhesive.
Workers also fixed minor last-minute problems last
night on software and the replacement battery cell.
Bureau Report
