NASA confirmed today that Curiosity has successfully drilled into a Martian rock and delivered a sample to its onboard chemistry lab. It is the first time a rover has ever drilled into a rock outside of planet Earth.
The rock is located in an area called Yellowknife Bay, located in a very low point of the Gale Crater. Scientists chose this drilling site for its diversity. Filled with an array of sedimentary rocks, the site is more than likely a place where water flowed. Louise Jandura, sample system chief engineer for Curiosity, called it a "time-capsule of evidence."
| How the Mars Curiosity Rover WorksResearchers used the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to examine the diverse range of rocks in this area. The below image of the first sample was taken on Feb. 20. The scoop of powdered rock is 1.8 inches wide.
On Feb. 8, Curiosity got down to business and drilled into a Martian rock for the first time in history. The following is a set of three images stitched together for an animated simulation.
The rock selected for drilling was named after John Klein, the former Mars Science Laboratory deputy project manager who passed away in 2011. The "Drill" label indicates the area where the rover took its first sample.
NASA is confident that the white on this rock is calcium sulfate, but the team hasn't yet identified the chemical makeup of the gray area. These are fine grain rocks, suggesting that they are siltstone or a mud stone, signaling that it was a wet place. To have this as a first-drill rock is thrilling for the researchers because it holds the key to discovering habitability of Mars.
How Does Curiosity Rover's Drill Work?
The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover is packed with a cutting-edge scientific payload that allows it to explore Mars like a human would. Because drilling into this Martian rock was a huge moment for NASA's rover, the team rehearsed it several times. In this video, the team gathers around a Curiosity "double" as it drills into a rock at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
TL;DR -- Here's a 1:22-minute video recap of the big Curiosity milestone.