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Subscribe to RSSNASA's Mars rover Curiosity has drilled a hole into the surface of the planet and is collecting samples of the powdery results for analysis. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
By Mike Wall, Space.com
NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into a Martian rock and collected samples, marking the first time any robot has ever performed this complicated maneuver on the surface of another planet.
The 1-ton Curiosity rover used its arm-mounted drill to bore a hole 0.63 inches (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) deep in a section of sedimentary bedrock on Friday. The activity paves the way for the first-ever analysis of fresh Martian subsurface material and provides the last major checkout of the robot's gear and instruments, researchers said.
"The most advanced planetary robot ever designed now is a fully operating analytical laboratory on Mars," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement Saturday. "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America."
Curiosity will process the sample over the next few days, researchers said. The rover will use some of the material to scour its sample-handling hardware clean of any residues that may remain from Earth before transferring any powder to the analytical instruments on the rover's body. [Curiosity Rover's Amazing Mars Photos]
"We'll take the powder we acquired and swish it around to scrub the internal surfaces of the drill bit assembly," said Curiosity drill systems engineer Scott McCloskey, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "Then we'll use the arm to transfer the powder out of the drill into the scoop, which will be our first chance to see the acquired sample."
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
At the center of this image from NASA's Curiosity rover is the hole in a rock called "John Klein" where the rover conducted its first sample drilling on Mars. The drilling took place on Feb. 8.
Drilling so deep into a Red Planet rock is a complex and unprecedented maneuver, so the mission team worked its way up to the first effort in a steady, stepwise fashion.
About two weeks ago, Curiosity began assessing the target rock, which is part of an outcrop called "John Klein" that was exposed to liquid water long ago. The rover first pressed down on the rock with its arm-mounted drill in a series of "pre-load" tests. It then used the drill's percussive action to hammer the outcrop without spinning the drill bit, which cleared the way for a recent "mini-drill" that bored into rock but didn't collect samples.
Getting Curiosity ready for all these steps — and for yesterday's successful full-up drilling run — also took a lot of prep work here on Earth, researchers said.
"Building a tool to interact forcefully with unpredictable rocks on Mars required an ambitious development and testing program," said JPL's Louise Jandura, chief engineer for Curiosity's sample system said Saturday. "To get to the point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth."
Curiosity landed inside Mars' huge Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5 to determine if the area has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. Along with its 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the rover's drill is considered key to this quest, for it allows scientists to peer deep into Martian rocks for evidence of past habitability.
Follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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Looks like oil in that hole. No, I know it's just a shadow.
nah, its "black oil". X-Files fans know what I am talking about.
Mark my words - Siltstone or Sandstone composition
Don't give Exxon any ideas!
I wish they could add some scale device in the photos. I know the hole is about two thirds of an inch in diameter but for some reason it looks to be about three inches. Whatever, this is an amazing and important moment.
We take so much for granted I believe. I remember, when it seemed the whole world was watching, as man first launched into space, waited breathlessly to see if man could get safely beyond the invisible boundaries of earth's atmosphere. Then hearing all the cheering from mission control when we succeeded! It seemed anything was going to be possible
Now we have something called Curiosity, an amazing robotic machine, exploring, testing, even drilling a hole on the planet Mars! I know for so many of those who have been raised in these days, on the Space Shuttle rockets being launched into space and gliding back to earth all the time, it just doesn't seem that big of a deal. But it's truly incredible gazing up into the night sky, see that tiny red dot in the heavens, and know man has created a machine, which is working silently that far away. We have touched the heavens finally, so far beyond the moon itself.
I pray young people will still search God's city in awe, find wonder in the celestial sphere above them, and have dreams of what they might do to help us reach for the stars. After all, we are made of the stuff of them. And we would really just be returning home to them.So we best prepare learning how to, because we desperately need more curiosity.
Well said, Windancer.
I hope the day comes soon when we develop launch capability from space and go on missions to explore the cosmos.
We are indeed made of "star dust":
Psa 8:3-9 KJV When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; (4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (6) Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: (7) All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; (8) The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. (9) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Flame, they didn't even know what stars were back then, let alone understand that all elements except hydrogen and some helium were made within them.
This picture comfirms my suspicions. Mars is made of stamped concrete.
I wish inner space(oceans) would be explored as intensely as outer space. I think the sole purpose of exploring outer space is for wealth and an alternate real estate. Inner space is full of life and holds many undiscovered secrets.
Just what we need, more secrets. And what about the Kraken? I'm not going down there!
How much do you think real estate on Mars is going for these days?
I agree with imnotlost. Well said Windancer. We are, when it's all said and done, just stardust.
Actually... given that we are mostly water and water is mostly hydrogen and hydrogen was not made in starts, we mostly are not made from the dust of the stars ;)
just having fun... I think its a profound notion that part of what makes us up was forged within stars lightyears away... and yet some of us still think the sun revolves around the Earth. ;)
Look Mom! I made a whole in the sandbox with my bucket!
Discovery...any discovery by humankind.............. is of value to the extent of all humankind's history of existance.How that's valued is up to you.C2
There is much we will learn from the exploration of Mars. Specifically, we will find out why Martians have green skin and why they speak in such high squeeky voices.
Cool - carry on - hope they find microbes; forever ending the ancient holy book fetish.
The fumes that are given off by Curiosity's batteries are floating into the atmosphere and causing global warming on Mars. So...there's that now.
You sir - are an idiot.
Considering that the Martian atmosphere is already 95% carbon dioxide and Curiosity doesn't give off fumes (obviously, since that would ruin the science measurements), I'd say your half-hearted attempt at making a climate-denier joke does little but display your own ignorance.
It looks like they used water to cool, and help the drill to do it's job. But i hope the water, and rock dust, didn't hurt the microbes or drown them.
No, they did not use water to cool the drill. It's plenty cold up there without having to worry whether water will freeze in the drill. And they certainly would not have wanted to carry anything extra they did not need.
Can't believe Robert Redford and the Sierra Club haven't filed for a restraining order to stop this rape of the Martian environment. Surely there's some endangered species they can save.
Actually, I very much hope there is some species on Mars--endangered or not.
I feel good. I posted links here last night and a day later they got the story out. I find a lot of info in wathcing the moving gif from the nasa site. It is patently obvious to me that the next rover should have a compressor and a nozzle or two on the arm mechanism.
What a GIANT waste of money!! That money could have been used to help the folks in New Jersey or some other state for disaster relief!!!
Sentiments like that are what will slow the progress in exploring space. There will always be problems on earth but we shouldn't allow that to stop space exploration.
We have plenty of money to do both.
don't feed the troll.
nobody is stupid enough to truly believe that.
If I didn't know this was a rock on Mars I would think that hole had been drilled into a piece of limestone.
Yea does anyone else ever wonder if this whole thing is fake. As the years go by I am starting the think the Moon landing was fake. Why would we never go back to the moon after so many years. Maybe because we were never there to start with.
MythBusters goes into dispelling the Myth that man never landed on the Moon and details the proof that man did indeed go to the moon and left a mirrored prism there that lasers from Earth can bounce off of. Google it and watch it on YouTube. You'll probably argue that the MythBuster guys are also in on the conspiracy, but it's good enough to assure most people who have doubts that it really did happen and it can be proven by independent means other than NASA and government sources.
I think they should take some Arctic Tundra grass or moss, and try and plant it on Mars.
Genetically engineer it to grow on Mars.
Why are we so curious that there may be life on Mars? I would be more curious in finding water on Mars and finding out if Mars can contain life.
Two and a half inches is pretty shallow. Probably the stuff in the hole is much the same as the stuff on top.
Yes, but the stuff on top would be subjected to weathering, erosion, radiation, etc... and would not be a very good sample. The inside is untouched, so it couldn't react with anything external. When you're looking for very subtle signatures of life like figuring out the water content and what the atmosphere was like while that rock was forming, and whether there are any organic molecules or some special composition itself, it makes a huge difference. Since Gale Crater has an alluvial fan and shows clear signs that water flowed there at some point long ago, any secrets left after all this time are most likely below the surface and probably not on it.
Job well done NASA.
To the guy complaining about NJ not getting money. If you didn't have insurance tough cookies. Why should we have to pay for for your stupidity and lack of self responsibility?
To the lady who was crying her eyes out on national TV. You knew the storm was coming why not pack up your photos in your car before you LEFT!!!
To NYC, to stupid to have flood gates on the subway tunnels.
The entire Curiosity mission is fascinating. I, for one, have already gotten more than my $7 contribution out of it.
BTW, $7 is the average amount paid by each U.S. citizen for the $2.5 billion cost.