NASA Mars Curiosity Rover News Update 2017: New Drilling Techniques Being Tested on the Red Planet
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is about to get back at work, drilling Martian rocks, after a ten-month hiatus following a hiccup with the drill feed mechanism. The rover team is currently working on a new way to use the onboard drill that, if successful, would minimize the risk of the bit getting stuck.
The image shows the view from the front of the rover, via the Hazard Avoidance Camera (Hazcam). In the shot, the rover's drill bit is touching the ground as the team conducts a battery of tests by checking the readings of a sensor mounted on the robotic arm, as NASA detailed in a news update.
At the time that image was captured, it has been 1,848th Martian days, or sols as NASA calls them, since the rover was first activated on the red planet.
This is the start of the first attempts since late last year at getting a rock sample drilled using the Curiosity rover's drill. Before that, the rover made use of two stabilizing posts placed on the target rock, which held the robotic arm in position while a drill feed pushes the bit down.
This technique has worked well in the 15 times that the rover sampled Martian rocks from 2013 to December of 2016. Unfortunately, this drill feed mechanism stopped working by that time.
The new technique, which NASA has yard-tested here on Earth using a replica, does away with using the stabilizing posts or the drill feed altogether. With the bit fully extended from the start, the plan is to move the robotic arm itself to push the bit into the rock.
In their latest test, the rover pressed the drill bit down and a bit of sideways, as the force sensor on the robot arm took readings. For now, the rover team is looking for ways to watch out for side pressure on the bit that may cause it to get stuck.
In between drilling test, the Curiosity rover continues to explore other parts of Mount Sharp on Mars.
