Mars rock gets stuck on Curiosity rover’s drill – Takes 5 days to shake off

The Curiosity rover drilled into a 12.9 kg (28.6 lb) rock on Mars on April 26, 2026. The rock got stuck to the drill bit and it took 5 days to shake off.

Credit: Space ​com | footage courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech | edited by Steve Spaleta

🎵 Arthur Benson, Pitfall (if you want the ​video with music, ​in the link below "source")

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Source

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G_JNXTGHs9Q&pp=iggUQAFKEFA2NkVJZi05QzUyRXlnWGg%3D

You can find raw data from the mission, here:

1.5.26

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=msl&begin_date=2026-05-01&end_date=2026-05-02​

25.4.26

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=msl&begin_date=2026-04-25&end_date=2026-04-26​

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From NASA:

"Drilling has fractured or separated the upper layers of rocks in the past, but a rock has never remained attached to the drill sleeve. The team initially tried vibrating the drill to shake off the rock, but saw no change."

NASA's blog
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/nasas-curiosity-rover-frees-its-drill-from-a-rock/
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Full description from NASA:

This series of images shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover as it got a rock stuck to the drill on the end of its robotic arm and, after waving the arm and running the drill a few times, finally detached the rock. The imagery showing the entire process was captured by the black-and-white hazard cameras on the front of Curiosity’s chassis and by navigation cameras on its mast, or head.

On April 25, 2026, Curiosity drilled a sample from a rock nicknamed “Atacama,” which is an estimated 1.5 feet in diameter at its base, 6 inches thick and weighs roughly 28.6 pounds (13 kilograms). When the rover retracted its arm, the entire rock lifted out of the ground, suspended by the fixed sleeve that surrounds the rotating drill bit. Drilling has fractured or separated the upper layers of rocks in the past, but a rock has never remained attached to the drill sleeve. The team initially tried vibrating the drill to shake off the rock, but saw no change.

Then, on April 29, they tried reorienting Curiosity’s robotic arm and vibrating the drill again. Imagery in the GIF shows sand falling from Atacama, but the rock stayed attached to the rover.

Finally, on May 1, Curiosity’s team tried again, tilting the drill more, rotating and vibrating the drill, and spinning the drill bit. The team planned to perform these actions multiple times but the rock came off on the first round, fracturing as it hit the ground.