NASA has released a new photos taken by the InSight lander on Mars. The images show the progress the lander has made on the hole it has been digging for the mole.

InSight has been hammering the mole into the Martian surface and has been making slow but steady progress. The mole, which is a heat probe, is an instrument used by the lander as part of its experiment to analyze the properties underneath the Red Planet’s surface. It was designed to measure the heat escaping from Mars’ interior.

For the past couple of weeks, InSight has been experiencing minor issues with the instrument. According to NASA, the team operating the lander discovered that InSight’s robotic arm wasn’t holding the mole properly, which prevented it from going deeper into the ground.

To assess the situation further, the lander’s arm was retracted so it can take clearer photos of the mole and the hole. NASA noted that this would allow the InSight team to come up with an effective solution to carry on with the experiment.

“The InSight team continues to assess the heat probe this week,” the agency explained in a press release. “Having determined the lander's robotic arm wasn't holding the mole in place, they retracted the arm and took new images to see how the pit that formed around the mole has changed.”

“What the team sees will help determine next steps,” NASA continued. “The intention is to press the robotic arm's scoop against the mole again — a technique referred to as ‘pinning’ — but further lab testing on Earth will be needed before any steps are taken on Mars.”

On Oct. 27, the lander encountered a problem when the mole started backing out of the hole it’s been digging. NASA noted that the unexpected incident occurred due to the recoil from the lander’s hammering motion, which caused the mole to bounce up from the hole.

According to the agency, progress on the hole has been halted due to the strong soil conditions on the Red Planet. NASA aims to solve this issue by pinning the mole against the wall of the hole in order to generate the necessary friction to dig further.