Ow, my arm! NASA鈥檚 Curiosity rover has been out of action on Mars since 27 February after a triggered safety alerts on board. Mission controllers ordered the rover to down tools until they diagnosed the problem. Now they鈥檝e traced the short to the drill on Curiosity鈥檚 robotic arm and say it should be up and running again this week.
With robot doctors in short supply on Mars, Curiosity may have to take it easy when it gets back to work. Its drill works by both rotating and hammering against the Martian surface, but its movements could be restricted in the future.
鈥淭he most likely cause is an intermittent short in the percussion mechanism of the drill,鈥� said project manager Jim Erickson. 鈥淎fter further analysis to confirm that diagnosis, we will be analysing how to adjust for that in future drilling.鈥�
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The short circuit occurred during Curiosity鈥檚 sixth drill since it arrived on Mars in 2012. Sampling the Martian soil helps NASA look for evidence of ancient rivers and other signs that the planet was once habitable.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐uriosity in a fix鈥�
