Curiosity Shows Severe Wheel Damage After 14 Years on Mars as NASA Weighs Wheel-Shedding Fix
Updated
Updated · IFLScience · Jul 30
Curiosity Shows Severe Wheel Damage After 14 Years on Mars as NASA Weighs Wheel-Shedding Fix
3 articles · Updated · IFLScience · Jul 30
Summary
New self-inspection images show one of Curiosity’s wheels is extensively damaged, though NASA says it does not appear much worse than in March 2026.
Mixed Martian terrain has steadily chewed up the wheel, prompting NASA to keep routing the rover over smoother ground and rely on traction-control software first deployed in 2017.
JPL testing indicates Curiosity could keep driving even if all wheel grousers fail, provided engineers can safely snap off the loose outer section before it strikes an electrical cable.
That contingency comes as the rover climbs Valle Grande and studies a vast field of polygonal fractures—4 to 8 centimeters across—plus dark rocks that may be impact ejecta or meteorites.