NASA’s Curiosity Rover Frees Its Drill From a Rock

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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Frees Its Drill From a Rock

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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Frees Its Drill From a Rock

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PIA26723 Figure A

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PIA26723 Figure B

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Description

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.

Figure A is the same GIF with yellow time stamps added in the upper left corner.

Figure B is an alternate view of the same activities from the navigation cameras on Curiosity’s mast, or head.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

To learn more about Curiosity, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity

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NASA Volunteers Double Known Population of Brown Dwarfs

A new paper from NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project announces that volunteers have essentially doubled the number of known brown dwarfs, with over 3,000 new discoveries made over the past 10 years since the project began. Brown dwarfs are balls of gas the size of Jupiter, less massive than stars. There’s one for every three or four stars near the Sun. 

Although brown dwarfs are common, they can be hard to spot because they shine so faintly compared to stars. Having twice as many brown dwarfs to study allows astronomers a deeper understanding of these elusive objects. Already, this vital new list of brown dwarfs has revealed a new variety of objects – the extreme T subdwarfs and many other rarities, such as ultra-cool objects and a brown dwarf that appears to have aurorae. It has also helped us inventory the distribution of mass in our galaxy and map our cosmic neighborhood. 

The discoveries are published in a paper published in the Astronomical Journal, led by astronomer Adam Schneider from the U.S. Naval Observatory. They represent work done over the course of ten years aided by a team of roughly 200,000 volunteers. Of the paper’s 75 authors, 61 are volunteers. Two of the other authors began their work with the team as volunteers and then embarked on careers in astronomy.

“I truly appreciate the recognition for all of us who collaborated, in some way, on this effort,” said Walter Ruben Robledo, an amateur astronomer and Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 volunteer from Cordoba, Argentina.

“When I received the news about the co-authorship, I thought: Yes, dreams do come true,” said another volunteer, Mayahuel Torres Guerrero, from Mexico City.

The volunteers discovered these brown dwarfs in images taken by NASA’s retired Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Near-Earth-Object WISE Reactivation mission (NEOWISE-R). They examined the data using the Zooniverse citizen science platform, searching for moving objects by blinking images taken over a 16-year time period. Some volunteers even contributed by building their own search tools and data analysis software.

Want to help make the next brown dwarf discovery? The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project is still sifting through more than 2 billion sources seen by WISE and NEOWISE-R. Join the search at backyardwords.org.

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Ahuachapán and Its Restive Neighbors

Volcanic activity takes on many forms in western El Salvador. The land near the city of Ahuachapán is pockmarked with craters and covered with recent lava flows. Meanwhile, a geothermal field feeds geysers, heats mineral pools, and powers a long-operating energy plant. The area is part of a volcanic landscape that stretches more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) along the Pacific coast from Guatemala to Panama, composing the Central American Volcanic Arc. 

On the right side of the image, Santa Ana stands at 2,381 meters (7,812 feet) above sea level as the country’s tallest volcano. Its summit features several crescent-shaped ridges surrounding a hot, acidic crater lake. The volcano remains active, with small to moderate explosive eruptions recorded since the 16th century. Its most recent significant eruption, in 2005, launched a dense gas and ash column high in the air and sent lahars down its slopes.

In 1770, another volcano began forming on Santa Ana’s southern flank. Izalco grew into a steep-sided stratovolcano through frequent eruptions over the next two centuries. Its regular activity—including Strombolian eruptions and lava fountains—earned it the nickname “Lighthouse of the Pacific,” as people at sea were reported to witness its glowing emanations. The “lighthouse” has since powered down, with Izalco’s most recent activity occurring in 1966. 

A line of forested, dimpled stratovolcano peaks arcing across the scene forms the Apaneca Range. There are no recorded eruptions of these volcanoes in the Holocene (the past 11,700 years), but persistent geothermal activity along the range manifests in the form of fumaroles, hot springs, and steam vents. Sudden and deadly steam explosions occasionally occur in the area, including a blast in October 1990 near the range’s Laguna Verde volcano. More recently, a 2025 steam eruption near a popular hot springs facility spurred evacuations and damaged infrastructure.

Though sometimes hazardous, the region’s heat source has also been tapped for geothermal power. The Ahuachapán Geothermal Power Plant has operated since 1975, leveraging groundwater naturally heated to around 250 degrees Celsius (480 degrees Fahrenheit) and local fault systems. By the early 1980s, the plant was producing 40 percent of El Salvador’s electricity. Some scholars note that this high level of production coincided with a period of civil unrest and population growth in the region.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

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November 25, 2024

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References & Resources

• Jiménez Majano, J.E. (2025) Fifty Years of Operation at the Ahuachapán Geothermal Field. Proceedings, 50th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2026, March 9) Lake Coatepeque. Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program, Santa Ana. Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program, Izalco. Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Volcano Live (2026, February) Apaneca Range. Accessed May 4, 2026.

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NASA Welcomes Ireland as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

Ireland signed the Artemis Accords Monday during a signing ceremony hosted by NASA, becoming the latest nation to commit to the responsible exploration of space for all humanity.

Ireland, a longstanding member of ESA (European Space Agency) and a valued international partner for NASA, now joins all 23 ESA member states as a signatory of the Artemis Accords.

“It is my privilege to welcome Ireland as the 66th and newest signatory to the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman during remarks. “The Emerald Isle is now part of a growing community of like-minded nations committed to the peaceful, transparent, and responsible exploration of space. Ireland joins at a pivotal moment. Artemis II was the opening act in humanity’s return to the Moon. What comes next is a sustained campaign of missions that will take us back to the lunar surface, not just for flags and footprints, but to build a base and stay.”

Underscoring the longstanding cultural ties and shared heritage between the United States and Ireland, the signing was celebrated during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington attended by U.S. Congressional staffers and interagency representatives.

Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, T.D., signed on behalf of the country.

“From an island shaped by the sea, whose people have always looked beyond the horizon and journeyed across the world, forging connections far beyond our shores, Ireland is proud to bring that same spirit to a new frontier and to join a global community committed to the peaceful exploration of space,” said Burke.

Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America Geraldine Byrne Nason and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs William Cappelletti, U.S. Department of State, participated in the event. U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh also attended.

In 2020, during the first Trump Administration, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies.

The Artemis Accords introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety and coordination between like-minded nations as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Signing the Artemis Accords means committing to explore peaceably and transparently, to render aid to those in need, to enable access to scientific data that all of humanity can learn from, to ensure activities do not interfere with those of others, and to preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices for space exploration for the benefit of all.

More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords

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Elizabeth Shaw