Posted: Fri, Aug 3, 2007, 8:06 AM ET (1206 GMT)
NASA's Phoenix Mars mission is on track to launch on Saturday morning, project officials said Thursday. A Delta 2 rocket is scheduled to launch the Phoenix Mars lander mission Saturday morning at either 5:26:34 am or 6:02:59 am EDT (0926:34 or 1002:59 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. Launch preparations proceeded smoothly on Thursday, and forecasts call for good weather at launch time Saturday. The launch was postponed a day earlier this week when severe weather delayed the fueling of the Delta's second stage. The spacecraft will land in the north polar regions of Mars in May 2008.

Related Links:

•  Florida Today article
•  Houston Chronicle article
•  SPACE.com article
•  Los Angeles Times article
•  NASA/JPL press release