Photos of the Curiosity Mars rover with a punctured tire released by NASA on September 24 show that years of travel on Mars have taken a toll on one of the rovers’ right-hand wheels. Several large punctures were recorded on the wheel, including one particularly large hole that exposed its internal structure.
Currently, NASA scientists do not know when these holes first appeared and whether any other wheels of the Curiosity rover have experienced similar problems.
NASA's Curiosity mission operations engineer Ashley Stroupe confirmed that the damage looked serious but the Mars rover was still functioning well.
This image highlights the wear and tear after 12 years of traveling across the harsh terrain of the red planet. The incident also does not appear to have affected the speed at which NASA's rover moves across the red planet.
Given the size of the hole in the wheel of the Mars rover Curiosity, it is possible that rocks and soil from Mars could have fallen inside, but this information has not been confirmed.
Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5, 2012, and was originally scheduled to operate for just two years. However, the durable Mars rover has surpassed all expectations and has operated for 4,323 sols (Mars days), traveling more than 20 miles (32 km) around Gale Crater.
For the past 12 years, the Curiosity rover has been used by scientists to study the Martian sky, searching for signs of life on Mars.
NASA's rover has also discovered many strange things on the red planet, including a book-shaped Martian rock, a mineral flower, a Star Trek symbol and a mysterious "alien" door...
There are no signs that the Curiosity Mars rover will stop working anytime soon, according to Live Science. But if it does, Curiosity will join the list of recent losses of equipment on Mars.
China's Zhurong Mars rover is believed to have ended its mission last year after months of inactivity. NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity last sent a message back to Earth in April this year.
Also according to Live Science, this is not the first time the wheels of one of NASA's Mars rovers have been in the spotlight.
In 2022, researchers noticed a rock stuck in the wheel of NASA's newest Mars rover, Perseverance. The Martian rock stayed on the wheel of NASA's rover for more than a year and fell out in April 2023.
