One of its two wind probes was knocked out, most probably by a piece of grit kicked up by the rocket-powered descent stage that placed Curiosity on the surface.

BBC: Dust-devils flirt with Curiosity Mars rover

His orders were to count to 10 and then tell me if he was still getting persistent clean UHF signal, which meant the descent stage wouldn't have fallen back on the rover.

BBC: Space - the new rock and roll

After an explosion in Apollo 13's service module cut off propulsion and power, the lunar excursion module (LEM) was used as a lifeboat to provide life support to the three astronauts, and the engine of its descent stage for course changes, until the command module could re-enter the atmosphere after a long coast around the moon.

MSN: Salvaging Science from Stricken Mars Moon Probe: A Scientist's View - Technology & science - Space - Space.com | NBC News

Along with Casar, Efimkin and Mikel Astarloza, he had made a decisive break on the final climb, up the Col d'Agnes, then held off the peloton on a long descent to the finish line and fighting it out for the stage win.

BBC: Sanchez secures stage eight win

It was also a miserable day for Friday's stage winner Ludovic Turpin, who has a suspected broken right hip after crashing on the descent of the infamous Col du Mollard.

BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Cycling | Mayo masters Alps to claim stage