New photos reveal several sizable holes in one of the wheels of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, highlighting the toll that 12 years of traversing the Red Planet’s harsh landscape has had on the robot.
Curiosity decommissioned in August 2012 and was originally expected to last only two years. But the intrepid rover defied expectations and endured 4,323 Martian days, or Sols, on the Red Planet, traveling more than 20 miles around Gale Crater.
During this time, by scientists to study the sky of the planet Mars, to look for signs of extraterrestrial life and to “spy” on the far side of the Sun.
The rover also spotted numerous oddities on the Red Planet, including a book-shaped rock, a mineral flower, an iconic Star Trek symbol and a mysterious door, among others.
There is no indication that the rover will stop anytime soon
However, new photos taken by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and released by NASA show that the rover’s epic adventure damaged the rover’s middle right wheel.
The images show several large tears in the wheel’s heavily scratched tire, including a particularly large hole that reveals the wheel’s internal mechanisms.
It is currently unclear when these holes appeared or if any of the rover’s other wheels suffered similar damage.
The damage may look severe, but Curiosity is “still holding up well despite enduring some of the worst abuse on Mars,” mission operations engineer Ashley Stroupe wrote in the statement.
Curiosity first landed on Mars in 2012
There is no indication that any time soon. But if it did, it would join a growing list of recent robotic casualties on Mars, including China’s Zhurong Mars rover, which was reported to have met its end last year after months of speculation about its inactivity , and NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, which sent its last message to Earth in April.
This is not the first time that the wheels of one of NASA’s Mars rovers have attracted attention.
In 2022, researchers noticed that Perseverance, , had picked up “a companion rock” that had become stuck in the drum of one of the robot’s wheels. This pebbly hitchhiker stayed with Curiosity’s successor for more than a year before being deployed in April 2023.
