The Curiosity rover just drilled into a rock on Mars for 1st time since 2016

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used a new drilling method to produce a hole on Feb. 26, 2018, in a rock target named Lake Orcadie. The hole marks the first operation of the rover's drill since a motor problem began acting up more than a year ago. NASA's Mars rover Curiosity just drilled into a Red Planet rock for the first time in more than a year. Curiosity bored a hole about 0.5 inches (1.3 centimeters) deep into a target rock on Monday (Feb. The car-size rover's drill -- a key tool at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm that allows it to snag pristine samples from the interiors of ancient rocks -- has been out of commission since late 2016, when a motor that extends two stabilizing posts on either side of the drill bit conked out.