NASA Troubleshooting Drill Problem On Mars Curiosity Rover
LOS ANGELES (AP) — NASA says it's troubleshooting a snag on the Mars rover Curiosity that's preventing it from moving its robotic arm and driving to another spot.
The space agency said Tuesday the problem involves a motor in the rover's drill that is used to bore into rocks.
Curiosity has been taking pictures, but doing little else for the past two weeks. It has been exploring rock layers on a Martian mountain dubbed Mount Sharp for the past two years.
Scientists talked about the problem while discussing research findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
Curiosity landed in 2012 in Gale Crater where it uncovered geologic evidence of an ancient environment that could have supported primitive life early in the red planet's history.
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