Overview
- Curiosity drilled a target called Atacama on April 25, when the entire 1.5‑foot‑wide, 6‑inch‑thick slab lifted out and stuck to the drill sleeve.
- Engineers first tried shaking the drill, then repeated the vibration after repositioning the arm on April 29, which shed sand but did not free the rock.
- A combined maneuver on May 1 that used a steeper angle with drill rotation, vibration, and bit spinning detached the slab on the first try, and it broke on impact with the ground.
- Hazard and navigation cameras recorded the attempts, and Mastcam captured a May 6 mosaic that shows the fallen slab and the circular drill hole.
- NASA says the rover is operating normally at Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, and the careful, step‑by‑step fix highlights JPL’s remote problem‑solving with long Earth‑to‑Mars delays.