NASA's Curiosity rover got into a bit of bother recently, when it managed to get a rock stuck to the drill on the end of its robotic arm.
The roving Martian explorer, which landed on the Red Planet in 2012, was able to capture images of the event, showing how it got its drill stuck on the rock, but was then fortunately able to free it.
More from Curiosity
Drilling is a key task performed by Curiosity on Mars.
The rover is able to approach interesting rocks and other formations, drill into them and then use its own internal 'laboratories' to analyse the chemistry and mineralogy of the rock.
Curiosity then beams this information back to Earth, where planetary scientists can study the data to learn more about Mars.
On 25 April 2026, Curiosity was drilling a sample from a rock nicknamed 'Atacama'.
The rock is thought to be about half a metre (1.5 feet) in diameter at its base, 15cm (6 inches) thick and weighing 13kg (28.6 pounds).
After drilling the sample, the rover attempted to remove its arm from the rock, but ended up lifting the entire rock off the Martian surface.
The rock was stuck to the fixed sleeve that surrounds the rover's rotating drill bit.
NASA says the drilling procedures carried out by Mars rovers has fractured bits of Martian rock in the past, but this is the first time a whole rock has become attached to a drill sleeve.
Shaking off the rock
The Curiosity science team back on Earth are able to control the Mars rover's movements remotely.
They tried moving Curiosity's arm and drill around in an attempt to vibrate and shake-off the rock, but that didn't work.
Then on 29 April, they experimented with moving Curiosity's robotic arm and vibrating the drill.
Still, the rock remained attached to the rover's arm.
Finally on 1 May, the Curiosity team tilted the drill more, rotated and vibrated it, span the drill bit and the rock fell off the arm, cracking as it hit the Martian surface.
Images captured by the hazard cameras on the front of Curiosity's chassis show the whole process by which Curiosity attempted to shake off the jammed rock and was able to free its arm and drill.
The rover's arm now free, Curiosity is continuing its adventure on the surface of Mars, sending back images and data that are helping scientists on Earth to unlock the mysteries of the incredible Red Planet.
