--- title: "NASA Rover Gets Arm Stuck Inside Mars Rock, Struggles to Break Free" description: "NASA Curiosity rover got its robotic arm stuck in a Mars rock it was drilling into, spending nearly a week to break free." date: "2026-05-09" modified: "2026-05-09" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/space/nasa-rover-stuck-rock" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" --- # NASA Rover Gets Arm Stuck Inside Mars Rock, Struggles to Break Free ![The image shows a robotic arm on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover that has become stuck inside a rock on the Red Planet.]() *NASA* NASA's [Curiosity rover]() got stuck in a rock, and consequently found itself in a hard place. Last month, the Mars robot was drilling into a rock sample using its robotic arm, as is routine in its scientific investigations. But when it tried to move on, the persistent rock got stuck to the drill and wouldn't shake off. New [images released by NASA]() depict Curiosity's struggle to detach itself. Far from a momentary inconvenience, it took six days before the rover's drill was liberated from the clingy rock. The images were captured in black and white by the rover's hazard cameras, which the agency strung together into a rudimentary video. https://twitter.com/NASAMars/status/2051756612440973410 The agency dubbed the rock with attachment issues "Atacama." At about 1.5 feet in diameter and six inches thick, it weighs around 28.6 pounds. On April 25, Curiosity extended its robotic arm to pierce the rock with its [percussive drill]() with the goal of extracting a pulverized sample for a closer analysis, something it does regularly. But when the rover attempted to withdraw the arm, the entire rock lifted off the ground. It was stuck to the drill sleeve — something that's never happened before, according to NASA, even though drilling has broken the upper layers of rocks in the past. Curiosity's operators first tried vibrating the drill to dislodge Atacama, but it didn't work. The footage shows, days later, when the robotic arm tries vibrating the drill again, but this time with the arm reoriented, to no avail. Salvation came on May 1, when the operators basically threw everything at the wall. They tilted the drill even further, rotated, vibrated, and spun the drill. The rock fell off on the first try — a welcome relief, as the team were anticipating having to try multiple times, perhaps drawing out the saga for yet more days. Less fortuitously for Atacama, the rock shattered as it fell to the ground. Curiosity has been roaming the Red Planet since 2012, despite its mission originally being planned to last just two years. It was the first rover to drill into Mars, and being the gritty trooper that it is, tirelessly continues this practice to this day. It's beginning to show its age, but it's faced [plenty of hiccups in the past]() and so far has weathered them all. **More on Mars:** [*NASA Fires Up Futuristic Plasma Thruster Designed to Take Us to Mars*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()