Mars Mission Delayed as Mad Dash to Prep Probe Falls Short

摘要

For the Russians, it would have been a bounce back from the disastrous launch of the Mars 96 spacecraft 13 years ago. For the Chinese, it would have been a maiden attempt to explore another planet. The two nations were gearing up to send a pair of probes next month to Mars and Phobos, the larger of the two martian moons, and return samples from Phobos-the first such mission in more than 30 years.