By DPA
Washington : The next NASA mission to Mars has been delayed two years after a conflict of interest was discovered in proposals for the unmanned exploration craft, the US space agency said.
The next mission for the Mars Scout programme has been pushed back to 2013 from 2011, Mars exploration programme director Doug McCuistion told reporters.
He said the delay was caused by a conflict of interest in one of two teams competing for the mission, but refused to discuss what the problem was or which proposal it involved. There was not time to resolve the conflict and still safely meet the earlier deadline, he said.
The mission had to be delayed by two years because the time between windows for launches to Mars is 26 months.
NASA will decide between the proposals to take measurements of Mars’ upper atmosphere.
The first mission in the Mars Scout programme is the Phoenix Lander that launched in August and is due to study the planet’s polar region when it lands in May 2008.