The rover touched down on Mars last November but since last month it has remained stuck to the surface. According to scientists working on the mission, the heat probe from the rover had become lodged under the surface of the planet. Tilman Spohn, from the German Aerospace Centre who are working in conjunction with NASA admitted that they are still unsure of what actually stopped the probe from drilling.
According to Mr Spohn, the team will use the robotic arm to support the structure of the rover to see if the “mole” is sticking out.
The crew will however, have to be incredibly careful as Mr Spohn admitted that any option must be “carefully considered” at first.
If deep enough, he also revealed that the probe could continue to hammer through the blockage.
Mr Spohn said: “I think what we can do is just continue hammering and see if we get through that layer or not.”
READ MORE: NASA asteroid tracker: An asteroid will pass closer than the MOON
Unfortunately for the NASA crew, while drilling with the probe the instrument deflected from hard rock and has therefore been permanently lodged.
The crew released the probe in order to detect heat flow in the planet’s crust but early into its mission, the “mole” as it’s termed, came under difficulty.
He said: “At about 30 centimetres depth we encountered something
“We don’t know yet if it’s a harder layer of regolith or a rock.”
READ MORE: Life on Mars? Did NASA Curiosity Rover photograph alien UFO on Mars?
After releasing a probe into the surface, the seismometer became lodged between the rock the team has speculated.
Since becoming stuck during its digging mission, the rover has been unable to move.
Although the probe became lodged in the planet’s surface, the rover has provided some dazzling images from the Red Planet.
Speaking recently, Don Banfield, head of InSight’s weather service said: “It gives you the sense of visiting an alien place.
“Mars has familiar atmospheric phenomena that are still quite different than those on Earth.”