NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet for over a decade, is showing signs of wear because of Mars’ rugged terrain.
Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5, 2012, with an initial mission duration of just two years. However, the rover has far surpassed its original life expectancy, operating for 4,323 Martian days, or Sols, and covering over 20 miles (32 kilometers) around the Gale Crater, its landing site. However, after more than a decade of exploration, new photos taken by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and released by NASA on September 24 reveal considerable damage to the rover’s middle right wheel. The images show large tears in the wheel’s heavily scratched surface, with one gaping hole exposing the inner workings of the wheel.
Despite the concerning appearance of the damage, Curiosity remains functional. “Curiosity is still holding up well despite taking some of the worst abuse from Mars,” said mission operations engineer Ashley Stroupe.
While there is no sign that Curiosity will stop working soon, if it does, it would join a growing list of recent robotic losses on Mars, including China’s Zhurong rover and NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter.
This isn’t the first time the wheels of NASA’s Mars rovers have made headlines. In 2022, researchers noticed that Curiosity’s successor, the Perseverance rover, had picked up a “pet rock” that remained lodged inside one of its wheels for over a year before falling out in April 2023.
While Curiosity’s damaged wheel may also have trapped dirt or pebbles, this has not yet been confirmed.
