Communications glitch delays Mars lander digging

June 5th, 2008 in Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Communications glitch delays Mars lander digging (AP)
This image released Wednesday, June 4, 2008, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Robotic Arm camera shows material from the Martian surface captured by the robotic arm scoop on Tuesday June 3, 2008. NASA's Phoenix lander begins long-awaited exploration of Mars' north pole region by clawing into the permafrost to search for evidence of the building blocks of life. (AP Photo/NASA/Caltech/JPL/Univ. of Arizona/Max Planck Institute)


This image released Wednesday, June 4, 2008, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Robotic Arm camera shows material from the Martian surface captured by the robotic arm scoop on Tuesday June 3, 2008. NASA's Phoenix lander begins long-awaited exploration of Mars' north pole region by clawing into the permafrost to search for evidence of the building blocks of life. (AP Photo/NASA/Caltech/JPL/Univ. of Arizona/Max Planck Institute)

(AP) -- The Phoenix lander's first dig into the Martian soil for scientific study was delayed Wednesday because of a communications glitch on a spacecraft that relays commands from Earth to the red planet.


Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .


"Communications glitch delays Mars lander digging." June 5th, 2008. http://phys.org/news131865095.html