Communications glitch delays Mars lander digging

June 5, 2008 By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer

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.

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• nilbud - Jun 05, 2008
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  TBOFH has that as one of his excuses for doing nothing "sunspots".
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• am_Unition - Jun 05, 2008
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  Probably the high-energy particles are from a small CME on the eastern limb of the sun, which is oriented right at mars. Watch on the left side of the LASCO film -
  
  http://sohowww.na...t_c3.mpg
  
  If they're having problems right now, solar max in 2012 is going to obliterate any opportunities to gather data.
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• Mercury_01 - Jun 05, 2008
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  This lander sucks.
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