NASA's Curiosity rover gets its drill stuck, recordings from the Arctic seafloor and more science stories - Engadget

"NASA's Curiosity rover found itself in a bit of a pickle recently after drilling into some Martian rock that proved unexpectedly clingy. In an incident that was captured by Curiosity's cameras on April 29, the rover can be seen with a slab of rock stuck on its drill bit after it attempted to collect a sample. The rock, dubbed Atacama, was about 1.5 feet wide and weighed nearly 30 pounds, according to NASA. Somehow in the 14 years the rover has been exploring Mars, this has never happened before, and vibrating the drill to shake the rock free didn't work at first."

""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," NASA explains in a blog post. "Drilling has fractured or separated the upper layers of rocks in the past, but a rock has never remained attached to the drill sleeve." After a few more attempts over the next couple of days, the team was able to get the rock loose by "tilting the drill more, rotating and vibrating the drill, and spinning the drill bit." We can see the rock finally dropping away from Curiosity and breaking apart in images taken on May 1."

"Beloved nature communicator David Attenborough turned 100 on Friday, and scientists named a newly discovered species of wasp in his honor. The wasp from Chile, called Attenboroughnculus tau, isn't the first to be named after Attenborough - it joins a list of over 50 organisms bearing his name in some way, which seems about right."

A newly discovered wasp from Chile was named Attenboroughnculus tau in honor of David Attenborough, joining more than 50 organisms bearing his name. NASA reported that the Curiosity rover encountered unexpected trouble during a sampling attempt on Mars when a rock called Atacama became stuck on the drill bit sleeve. The rock was about 1.5 feet wide and weighed nearly 30 pounds. Initial efforts to shake it free by vibrating the drill did not work. After additional attempts over the next couple of days, the team freed the rock by tilting the drill, rotating and vibrating it, and spinning the drill bit. NASA also released new Artemis II mission photos.

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