Curiosity Rover Got its Arm Stuck in a Martian Rock
NASA said the rock nicknamed Atacama broke free after the team tried tilting, rotating and vibrating the drill.
- After a weeklong delay, the Mars Curiosity Rover successfully dislodged the rock nicknamed Atacama from its drill on the Martian surface.
- When Curiosity drilled into the 28.6 lb stone on April 25, the rock lodged on the fixed sleeve rather than the drill bit itself.
- Curiosity is 140 million miles from Earth, and radio signals take 30 minutes to travel between planets, complicating remote repairs to the 1.5 foot diameter stone.
- On May 1, the team tilted the mechanism, rotated and vibrated the drill, and spun the bit, causing Atacama to fall and shatter on the surface.
- Curiosity has been on Mars for almost 14 years, and the hostile Martian surface has taken its toll, contributing to the vehicle's deteriorating wheel health.
12 Articles
12 Articles
NASA Rover Gets Arm Stuck Inside Mars Rock, Struggles to Break Free
NASA’s Curiosity rover got stuck in a rock, and consequently found itself in a hard place. Last month, the Mars robot was drilling into a rock sample using its robotic arm, as is routine in its scientific investigations. But when it tried to move on, the persistent rock got stuck to the drill and wouldn’t shake off. New images released by NASA depict Curiosity’s struggle to detach itself. Far from a momentary inconvenience, it took six days bef…
The American space agency NASA is conducting soil tests on Mars using the Mars rover ‘Curiosity’. This usually goes quite smoothly, until two weeks ago. The Mars rover got itself into hopeless trouble when it accidentally dragged a massive rock out of the ground.
It was the first time in its 15-year mission that Curiosity had to deal with such a problem.
Mars is bombarded with intense radiation, is haunted by strong sandstorms, temperatures can drop to -129 degrees Celsius, and NASA rovers are built to withstand these vitreous conditions. Rotusi, the Curiosity rover has...
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