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Mars rover hits rocky snag with power system
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NASA's Curiosity Rover got a rock stuck to the drill at the end of its robotic arm, necessitating some remote-controlled shaking and jiggling to free the tool.
Key facts
- The rock, dubbed "Atacama" and measuring 1.5 feet in diameter at its base and 6 inches thick, weighed approximately 28.6 pounds (13 kilograms)
- On April 29, they tried reorienting the robotic arm and vibrating the drill again
- After drilling the sample on April 25, the rover operators retracted Curiosity's arm as they had done many times
- Finally, on May 1, the team tried tilting the drill more, rotating and vibrating the drill, and spinning the drill bit, and success
Summary
All driller, no filler. They've all been there, doing a bit of do-it-yourself with a power tool when something awful happens. In this case, NASA's trundlebot drilled a sample from a rock, lifted its drill and… the rock came too. The rock, dubbed "Atacama" and measuring 1.5 feet in diameter at its base and 6 inches thick, weighed approximately 28.6 pounds (13 kilograms).