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Article: NASA delays Martian soil gathering due to communication glitch
- Article from:
- Xinhua News Agency
- Article date:
- June 5, 2008
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Xinhua News Agency. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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NASA delays Martian soil gathering due to communication glitch
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- NASA has delayed gathering of
Martian soil samples by the Phoenix Mars Lander due to a
communication glitch on a satellite.
The NASA Phoenix team was confident to start delivering soil
samples to instruments on the Lander's deck on Wednesday, using its
robotic arm after two practice rounds of digging and dumping the
clumpy soil at the Martian arctic site this week.
However, the Phoenix team learned on Wednesday that NASA's
Odyssey orbiter, which relays the lander's data to and from Earth,
had entered a "safe mode," preventing Wednesday's instructions from
reaching the lander.
Odyssey mission ...