In fact, there is growing concern about whether the wedge-shaped experimental craft will ever fly. The United States is to abandon its ambitious plans to bring back rocks from the surface of Mars before the end of the decade. It is a decision that could set back hopes of an astronaut landing on the Red Planet by many years. Jo Le Guen is 45 days and nearly 1,500 miles into a 5,600 miles voyage from New Zealand to Cape Horn in South America, and concerned that the collapse will rob him of his main tool for navigation and weather reports. Spaceflight Now .
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