The Curiosity rover from NASA has spent greater than 13 years on Mars, battling excessive radiation ranges, mud storms, and excessive chilly that reaches all the way down to -200°F or -129°C. Nonetheless, a mere stone in April 2026 thwarted all the pieces that Mars’ atmosphere was able to doing, leaving the rover stranded for six complete days. The stone has been known as “Atacama” by NASA engineers, who discovered it extraordinarily troublesome to prize off the rover’s drill bit.
A Rock That Would not Let Go
Based on House.com, on April 25, 2026, Curiosity took a pattern from “Atacama”, which was drilled out utilizing the rover’s rotary-percussive drill. The pattern is roughly 1.5 toes in diameter on the base of the outlet, about 6 inches thick, and weighs roughly 28.6 kilos (13 kilograms). Notable on this scene is that the whole rock was lifted out of the bottom when the pattern was retracted from the rover’s arm. The aim of the drill was to cut the rock up into fine-grained materials that the rover’s onboard devices can decide the chemistry and mineral composition of.
Six Days, One Resolution
The engineers started by vibrating the drill with out success. Then on April 29, the robotic arm was rotated, and vibration was carried out once more. Sand was launched from the Atacama, however the rock remained unyielding. Nonetheless, on Could 1, the drill was tipped extra, and the vibration was carried out whereas the drill bit was rotated on the similar time. It succeeded solely on the very first try, when Atacama broke and dropped to the bottom of Mars. The drill aboard Curiosity crushes rock into powder and feeds it to the superior devices within the rover, which map the geological historical past of the planet whatever the minor setback.
