14 DAY TRIAL // Curiosity had barely recovered from a memory problem when it was forced to go back to sleep as a dangerous solar storm was approaching Mars. The rover is now in stand-by again until the danger passes.
"Storm's a-comin'! There's a solar storm heading for Mars. I'm going back to sleep to weather it out," the rover tweeted.
The sun is now at the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, so flares like this are to be expected for the next several months.
The flare poses no danger to Earth or to any of the other spacecraft and rovers on Mars, the two orbiters circling the planet and the Opportunity rover will carry on as normal.
But NASA is taking precautions with Curiosity because of the recent problems. This means that Curiosity's current work is once again put on hold. The rover was analyzing rock samples, the first ever recovered from a planet outside of Earth.