Earlier, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had reported a short circuit in the arm of its Curiosity rover, a car-sized robotic rover which has been exploring the Red Planet. The rover halted work on February 27. Since then, the rover team was working to find the source of short circuit in hopes of repairing it and getting the rover back to work. Now, as per mission controllers, they have discovered the source of short circuits.

The space agency reported on Thursday that the rover team has fixed the problem and now the robotic arm is working perfectly. According to the agency, the rover used its robotic arm on Wednesday to deliver sample of rock powder that the rover had collected last month. The rover delivered the sample to the Chemistry and Mineral analytical instrument of the rover.

The rock sample was taken by the rover from Telegraph Peak. Previously, the rover was not able to deliver the sample to the instrument due to short circuit in the robotic arm, but now it has successfully delivered the sample. As per mission controllers’ plans, the rover will be driven away from the Pahrump Hills outcrop on Mount Sharp.

Ashwin Vasavada, project scientist for the Curiosity mission, said that the sample from Telegraph Peak were in the arm for about two weeks. Now, the rover has finally delivered the sample for analysis, which could reveal interesting things about the Red Planet.

As per the space agency, the rover had experienced the short circuit when it was using the percussion mechanism of its drill to shake power into a processing device on the robotic arm. Project manager Jim Erickson said, “The most likely cause is an intermittent short in the percussion mechanism of the drill. After further analysis to confirm that diagnosis, we will be analyzing how to adjust for that in future drilling”.