NASA's Curiosity rover that's been studying the terrain and obtaining samples from Mars since 2012 has suffered a broken arm.

The nuclear powered vehicle is circling the area of Mount Sharp, the highest point on the Red Plantet, and is now apparently handicapped.

NASA suspects this technical problem started around the week of February 27 when the rover was conducting a crucial step in transferring rock powder obtained from the drill to the arm and then to the laboratory instruments of the rover.

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The rover's present scientific mission is to collect rock samples from Mount Sharp where scientists believe they've found evidence of ancient water that once existed among the rock beds.

When Curiosity was engaged in this operation, NASA said telemetry sent from the rover indicated a transient short circuit had occurred. The rover just simply followed its programmed response, which is halting the arm activity at the time.

Mission control from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has now decided to park Curiosity for the meantime until they can establish the real cause of the arm failure and the status of the motor system responsible for controlling and powering it.

According to Jim Erickson, Curiosity rover's Project manager, the team is running tests on the vehicle in its present configuration. While running these tests, the vehicle will not move its arm or even drive.

The faulty arm was still moved over five times when it placed Martian soil samples in the storage unit for further scientific examination.

The team hasn't yet pinpointed the cause of the failure or even announced the possibility of immediate repair. NASA also says this transient short circuit will have little effect on rover operations. The rover team will now restrict the use of the mechanism for the meantime, however.

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