http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20111110.html

Launch is scheduled for the 25th.

Meanwhile, here are 2 recent news items about Phobos-Grunt:

http://www.france24.com/en/20111110-russia-fails-revive-stranded-mars-probe http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/10/us-russia-mars-probe-idUSTRE7A93DB...

One critical factor is the life-time of the on-board batteries. Most reports I read mentioned 3 days, though I've seen some which estimated 2 weeks.

73s

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL