Thursday, August 11 2005 20:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Cape Canaveral: NASA today (Aug 11, 2005) delayed the launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for 24 hours, citing an "anomaly."

"We have scrubbed for at least 24 hours," a NASA official said on NASA television.

The MRO was slated to blast off today atop an Atlas V rocket for a 25-month mission to survey Mars.

NASA had earlier given the go-ahead for the launch today, a day later than scheduled after problems with the 55-metre-tall, 335.6-tonne rocket arose yesterday.

But it had to postpone the mission again due to an "anomaly," a NASA official said on NASA television.

By using enhanced lenses and flying at a low orbit, the Mars probe is expected to help scientists understand how water has moved on the planet's surface and to pick out possible landing sites for future missions to Mars.

Learning about the history of water distribution is expected to shed light on possible previous Martian life forms.

"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the next step in our ambitious exploration of Mars," said Douglas McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars exploration programme.

"We expect to use this spacecraft's eyes in the sky in coming years as our primary tools to identify and evaluate the best places for future missions to land," he added.

The MRO will use a spectrometer that can detect minerals linked to the existence of water, a radiometer that analyzes atmospheric dust, water vapor and temperature and an Italian radar that can look under the ground to detect water.