NASAs InSight lander has performed a lot of great work since its arrival on the Red Planet many months ago. Its provided scientists with insights (no pun intended) into the planet, revealing that marsquakes frequently rumble across its rocky surface, and even sent back timely weather reports. Just about everything is going well for the high-tech robot. Just about.

The one instrument that has seriously failed to meet expectations is the self-hammering mole tool that was supposed to dig itself up to 16 deep. Its first attempts were lackluster, and even when NASA tried new techniques, Mars barfed the probe back up again. Now, NASA is pulling out all the stops, and its newest plan appears to be working.

Weeks back, NASA announced that it would use the InSight landers robotic arm to physically push the probe into its hole. This strategy, NASA said, could give the probe enough traction in the loose Martian soil to dig itself deeper. The probe is only useful to NASA if it can dig way, way down, so this new technique is something of a hail mary.

The mission team plans to command the scoop on InSights robotic arm to press down on the mole, the mini pile driver designed to hammer itself as much as 16 feet (5 meters) down, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory said at the time. They hope that pushing down on the moles top, also called the back cap, will keep it from backing out of its hole on Mars, as it did twice in recent months after nearly burying itself.

Nobody knew whether the strategy would work, or if it would even be possible to push on the end of the probe without damaging the connections between the instrument and the lander itself. After all, cutting the probe off from the lander would mean an abrupt end to that particular mission objective, so great care had to be taken to avoid pinching the cords and causing damage.

Today, NASAs InSight team tweeted something that looks rather promising. Its a very brief video that appears to show the robotic arm giving the probe a gentle nudge. The probe inches deeper into the Martian soil just before the looping video ends. Check it out:

The team seems very encouraged by the results, noting that the technique appears to be working. Still, its far too early to declare this a total success. The troublesome mole has been rescued before, and each time it appears to be working, something else goes wrong and it ends up on the surface again.

Well have to wait a while before we know if the mole will actually be able to complete its job, but for now, well be cautiously optimistic.

Image Source: NASA/JPL

Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and future tech. Most recently, Mike served as Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web and print outlets. His love ofreporting is second only to his gaming addiction.

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