Completely unusual and delicate operation to avoid permanent damage to the equipment. Robot collected rock samples.

O rover Curiosity, from NASA, recently experienced an unprecedented episode since arriving on Mars, almost 14 years ago.

During a drilling operation in Gale Crater, the robot was left with the arm mechanic taken to a Martian rock during six daysforcing mission engineers to develop a delicate operation to avoid permanent damage to the equipment.

The incident occurred at the end of April, when Curiosity was collecting samples from a rocha baptized “Atacama”, explains NASA in .

The mission appeared to proceed normally until the moment the rover tried to remove the drill from the surface.

Instead of fragmenting, as expected, the rock came loose almost completely from the Martian soil and became taken to the robotic arm mechanism.

The piece measured about 45 centimeters wide, was approximately 15 centimeters thick and weighed close to 13 kilos.

It was the first time, in more than a decade of Curiosity’s activity, that a drilling resulted in such a blockage.

The situation generated concern among the scientists responsible for the mission, as any damage to the robotic arm could compromise future geological analyzes on the red planet.

Over the course of nearly a week, mission controllers tried several strategies to free the rover: oscillating movements of the arm, vibrations of the drill and gradual changes in the angle of the mechanism.

None of the initial attempts were successful.

Only after matching a specific arm inclination with the continuous rotation and vibrations of the drill do engineers got it loosen the rock. When it fell to the Martian soil, the block broke in several fragments.

Despite the positive outcome, the operation had scientific costs. Part of samples collected got lost during the drill release process, although some fragments can still be analyzed by laboratory instruments installed on the rover.

Completely unusual and delicate operation to avoid permanent damage to the equipment. Robot collected rock samples.

O rover Curiosity, from NASA, recently experienced an unprecedented episode since arriving on Mars, almost 14 years ago.

During a drilling operation in Gale Crater, the robot was left with the arm mechanic taken to a Martian rock during six daysforcing mission engineers to develop a delicate operation to avoid permanent damage to the equipment.

The incident occurred at the end of April, when Curiosity was collecting samples from a rocha baptized “Atacama”, explains NASA in .

The mission appeared to proceed normally until the moment the rover tried to remove the drill from the surface.

Instead of fragmenting, as expected, the rock came loose almost completely from the Martian soil and became taken to the robotic arm mechanism.

The piece measured about 45 centimeters wide, was approximately 15 centimeters thick and weighed close to 13 kilos.

It was the first time, in more than a decade of Curiosity’s activity, that a drilling resulted in such a blockage.

The situation generated concern among the scientists responsible for the mission, as any damage to the robotic arm could compromise future geological analyzes on the red planet.

Over the course of nearly a week, mission controllers tried several strategies to free the rover: oscillating movements of the arm, vibrations of the drill and gradual changes in the angle of the mechanism.

None of the initial attempts were successful.

Only after matching a specific arm inclination with the continuous rotation and vibrations of the drill do engineers got it loosen the rock. When it fell to the Martian soil, the block broke in several fragments.

Despite the positive outcome, the operation had scientific costs. Part of samples collected got lost during the drill release process, although some fragments can still be analyzed by laboratory instruments installed on the rover.