---
title: "Glitch Puts NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Out of Commission"
description: "NASA's Curiosity Mars rover just experienced a technical glitch losing its orientation, forcing it to stop in its tracks."
date: "2020-01-23"
modified: "2020-01-23"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-curiosity-mars-rover-glitch"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "curiosity"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# Glitch Puts NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Out of Commission

![NASA's Curiosity Mars rover just experienced a technical glitch losing its orientation, forcing it to stop in its tracks.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/nasa-curiosity-mars-rover-glitch.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Freezing Rover

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has experienced a technical glitch, forcing it to stop in its tracks.

"Partway through its last set of activities, Curiosity lost its orientation," Dawn Sumner, a planetary geologist at UC Davis and Curiosity science team member, wrote in [an update](<https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/8587/sols-2649-2652-curiosity-loses-its-attitude/>). "Some knowledge of its attitude was not quite right, so it couldn't make the essential safety evaluation."

## Money Moves

Curiosity is programmed not to move anything until it's confident the movement can be executed without potential danger. Now, according to Sumner, something seems to have gone wrong with that system — effectively shutting the rover down.

"This conservative approach helps keep Curiosity from hitting its arm on rocks, driving over something dangerous, or pointing an unprotected camera at the sun," Sumner wrote.

## Glitch Fix

The team back on the ground is already working on a plan to find out what caused the glitch.

As of today, Curiosity has spent 2,736 Earth days — close to 7.5 years — on the surface of the Red Planet, where it's still conducting valuable research. Just last week, the rover "stopped to investigate a strange trough" in the the nearby Martian landscape, according to [an update](<https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/8586/sols-2645-2646-a-strange-trough-on-western-butte/>).

**READ MORE:** [NASA's Curiosity rover suffers glitch on Mars, freezes up](<https://www.cnet.com/news/nasas-curiosity-rover-suffers-glitch-on-mars-freezes-up/>) \[*CNET*\]

**More on Curiosity:** *[NASA: Rover May Have Found Remnants of Ancient Martian Oasis](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-rover-ancient-oasis>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)