Mars Rover to Drill Into First Martian Rock

Jan. 16, 2013 — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is driving toward a flat rock with pale veins that may hold clues to a wet history on the Red Planet. If the rock meets rover engineers' approval when Curiosity rolls up to it in coming days, it will become the first to be drilled for a sample during the Mars Science Laboratory mission.

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'John Klein' Site Selected for Curiosity's Drill Debut: This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. Image credit: (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

The size of a car, Curiosity is inside Mars' Gale Crater investigating whether the planet ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life. Curiosity landed in the crater five months ago to begin its two-year prime mission.

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Sources: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, ScienceDaily.com .

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