"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 before the rover's drill was liberated from the clingy rock."
"The agency dubbed the rock with attachment issues Atacama. At about 1.5 feet in diameter and six inches thick, it weighs around 28.6 pounds. On April 25, Curiosity extended its robotic arm to pierce the rock with its percussive drill with the goal of extracting a pulverized sample for a closer analysis, something it does regularly. But when the rover attempted to withdraw the arm, the entire rock lifted off the ground."
"Curiosity's operators first tried vibrating the drill to dislodge Atacama, but it didn't work. The footage shows, days later, when the robotic arm tries vibrating the drill again, but this time with the arm reoriented, to no avail. Salvation came on May 1, when the operators basically threw everything at the wall. They tilted the drill even further, rotated, vibrated"
Curiosity drilled into a Martian rock to extract a pulverized sample. When the rover tried to withdraw its robotic arm, the rock remained attached to the drill sleeve and lifted off the ground. Hazard-camera images showed the rover’s attempts to detach the rock, including initial vibration that did not work. The drill stayed trapped for six days. Operators later changed the drill and arm orientation, tilted and rotated the drill, and applied additional vibration until the rock finally fell off. The attached rock was named Atacama and measured about 1.5 feet in diameter, six inches thick, and roughly 28.6 pounds.
Read at futurism.com
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