Mars Probe's 2nd Day of Activities Is Delayed

May 27, 2008 -- NASA officials say plans for the Phoenix Mars Lander's second day of activities on Mars have been delayed.

They say it's because of a problem in relaying communications from one of two Mars orbiters relaying commands from Earth.

Fuk Li, manager of the Mars exploration program for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., says that a "transient event" on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter turned its UHF radio off. That stopped communications between it and the lander.

But Li and others say it is not a significant problem.

Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, the mission's principal researcher, says plans called for maneuvers Tuesday to unhook the lander's 8-foot robotic arm from a latch holding it in place during its space flight and landing sequence.

The lander will go through a preprogrammed sequence of other activities, but digging likely will be delayed until sometime this weekend or next week.

Fresh images sent back by Phoenix during its first full day operating in the Martian northern polar region showed most of its science instruments in good health, mission scientists said.

The one snag on the lander occurred when the protective sheath around the trench-digging robotic arm failed to unwrap all the way after touchdown and now covers the arm's elbow joint.

Deputy project scientist Deborah Bass of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said scientists still planned to start the process of unstowing the arm Tuesday, but it could take an extra day to fully stretch the arm.

"I would say this is an inconvenience," Bass said.