Tracy Young                                                                              June 29, 2003 
Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468

KSC Release No. 51-03

Note to Editors:
MER-B “OPPORTUNITY” LAUNCH DELAYED   

Launch of the MER-B “Opportunity” Mars Exploration Rover aboard a Boeing Delta II Heavy launch vehicle has been postponed due to upper level wind conditions at launch time.

The next opportunity for launch is at 11:46:14 p.m. EDT, June 29.   A second opportunity exists at 12:28:07 a.m. EDT, June 30.  At this time, the weather forecast for the next launch opportunity  shows a slight improvement with a 30 percent chance of violation of weather criteria.

NASA Television countdown coverage will begin at 9:45 p.m., June 29.  

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Newsroom offers an electronic subscription service for status reports and news releases issued from KSC. There are two possible ways to subscribe.  You may send a blank e-mail message to ksc-news_release-subscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov or follow the instructions on the Web site at http://kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov. The system will confirm the request via e-mail.