And given that many drilling operations occur autonomously, the drill itself—typically attached to a rover or lander—has to know when to back off on its drilling process before the bits melt.

NASA says Mars rover sample has textures 'unlike anything we've seen’ - The samples collected by the Perseverance rover could shed light on the planet’s history ...

The daily 180-degree-Fahrenheit temperature swings on Mars would cause the whole rover, including the drill bit, to expand and contract. So we had to figure out how to keep it from getting stuck.

After months of tests, NASA's Curiosity rover is settling down to the serious business of planetary exploration, positioning itself to drill into the crust of the red planet for the first time.

Working with BAS, and in partnership with industrial partners RolaTube and Apogee Engineering, the team will create a lightweight, flexible drill-string that can be coiled up inside a rover ...

Drilling a new, deeper one to reach a lower ... said he doesn’t find Rover’s new claims to be much of a threat because the company’s lack of capital makes it unlikely a mine would be approved.