Tag: Short Circuit

Curiosity Mars Rover is Back in Action!

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After feeling an electrical surge in the drilling instrument last month, the Curiosity rover has once again picked up and continued its journey toward mount Sharp in the Gale Crater. On Wednesday, the rover finished transporting recently drilled material from it’s robotic arm to instruments on the rover’s body, before driving 33 feet on Thursday.  The short circuit occurred on February 28th, and since then the mission team has been running tests to ensure everything was okay before resuming operations. The short circuit was caused by the percussive function of the rock drill on the rover’s robotic arm, and as the...

Curiosity Rover Short Circuit and the Investigation

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I love to discuss Mars rovers.  The thought of robots roaming around the empty red desert, doing science in pure form, unmasking the surprising history of our red neighbour, it’s exciting and it’s the frontier of discovery.  The limits of science and engineering are pushed as we send complex machines to travel further than any human in history.  But with such a marvellous feat, issues can arise, and when they do, the nearest mechanic is 55 Million Km away. On February 27th, during the transfer of a sample of dust from the rover’s drill to its instruments, the rover suffered...