NASA rover on Mars to resume arm movements soon

Washington: NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is expected to resume arm movements this week. A fluctuation in current triggered a fault-protection response that immediately halted action by the rover during the mission's 911th Martian day. The sample-collection drill on Curiosity's robotic arm uses both rotation and hammering, or percussion, to penetrate into Martian rocks and collect pulverised rock material for delivery to analytical instruments inside the rover. The electrical short circuit occurred while the rover was transferring rock-powder sample from the grooves of the drill into a mechanism that sieves and portions the powder.