NASA employs some of the smartest, most technologically advanced thinkers in the world. Yet, when they recently attempted to fix an issue with the Mars InSight lander, the solution seemed to be something just about anyone could have thought of; hit it with a shovel.
The Mars InSight lander, known for its viral selfies from the red planet, had been having trouble with a heat probe known as "The Mole." NASA engineers had been working on a solution to the issue, and what they determined was the best strategy was to use "the robotic arm to push the mole" with a scooping tool attached to the end. The plan of having the lander hit itself with a shovel appeared to work, according to a recent tweet shared by NASA.
The issue appeared to be the mole's lack of friction, causing it to be unable to burrow into the soil in order to get heat measurements under the surface of Mars. Luckily, if this happens again NASA now knows all they need is a shovel. With that level of thinking, NASA may soon be getting more people applying to be engineers.
Via CNN
