{"id":428989,"date":"2026-05-16T00:45:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=44668b0a06b2cec9322911393f92e678"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:45:52","slug":"curiosity-shakes-loose-a-pesky-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=428989","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity Shakes Loose a Pesky Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>
\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After NASA\u2019s Curiosity Mars rover<\/a> drilled a sample from this rock on April 25, 2026, it withdrew its robotic arm and pulled the entire rock off the surface with it. Engineers spent several days repositioning the arm and vibrating the drill to try and get the rock loose. When it finally detached on May 1, the rock broke into pieces.<\/p>\n

This close-up image of the rock was produced by Curiosity\u2019s Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on May 6<\/a>. Nicknamed \u201cAtacama,\u201d the rock is estimated to be 1.5 feet in diameter at its base and 6 inches thick. It would weigh roughly 28.6 pounds on Earth (and about a third of that on Mars). The circular hole produced by Curiosity\u2019s drill is visible in the rock.<\/p>\n

See Atacama stuck on Curiosity\u2019s drill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After NASA\u2019s Curiosity Mars rover drilled a sample from this rock on April 25, 2026, it withdrew its robotic arm and pulled the entire rock off the surface with it. Engineers spent several days repositioning the arm and vibrating the drill to try and get the rock loose. When it finally detached on May 1, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7727],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mars"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t