Washington - NASA's next Mars rover mission will be delayed by two years until 2011 to allow scientists more time to test hardware on key parts of the craft, the US space agency said Thursday in Washington. The Mars Science Laboratory is designed to travel longer distances over rough terrain and is meant to explore an area of the red planet that is believed to have been wet in the past. The mission will seek evidence of whether ancient Mars had microbial life and to preserve any evidence it collects.
Tests on the rover led NASA to decide to reengineer key parts of the robotic probe.
The long delay between the planned launch in October 2009 and the 2011 timeframe is due to the narrow window for flights to Mars, which are only possible for a few weeks every two years.
"We will not lessen our standards for testing the mission's complex flight systems, so we are choosing the more responsible option of changing the launch date," Dough McCuistion, director NASA's Mars programme, said in a statement.
