Phoenix lander's first scoop of the Martian soil was delayed Wednesday as a result of a communication malfunction on a spacecraft that relayed commands from Earth to Mars, according to media reports Thursday.
The orbiting Odyssey satellite failed to send instructions to the lander to dig into the permafrost to search for evidence of life, said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
It's the second time for the lander's schedule to be delayed for the same reason. The first glitch occurred two days after its landing, when another satellite, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, turned off its radio.
Engineers worked to fix the problem with Odyssey, which will remain out of condition until Saturday, Edwards added.
Phoenix set down in Mars' northern latitudes to study whether the polar environment is capable of supporting primitive life. It communicates with Earth through Odyssey and the Reconnaissance Orbiter, which make daily passes over the lander to send commands and beam back images.
Source:Xinhua/Agencies
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