[meteorite-list] Weekend Test on Mars Was Preparation to Drill a Rock

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-044  

Weekend Test on Mars Was Preparation to Drill a Rock
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
February 04, 2013

PASADENA, Calif. - The bit of the rock-sampling drill on NASA's Mars
rover Curiosity left its mark on a Martian rock this weekend during
brief testing of the tool's percussive action.

The successful activity, called a "drill-on-rock checkout" by the rover
team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, is part of a series
of tests to prepare for the first drilling in history to collect a
sample of rock material on Mars.

An image of the bit mark on the rock target called "John Klein" is
available online at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16717 .

Another preparatory test, called "mini drill," will precede the full
drilling. The mini drill test will use both the rotary and percussive
actions of the drill to generate a ring of rock powder around a hole.
This will allow for evaluation of the material to see if it behaves as a
dry powder suitable for processing by the rover's sample handling
mechanisms.

During a two-year prime mission, researchers are using Curiosity's 10
science instruments to assess whether the study area in Gale Crater on
Mars ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial
life.

More information about Curiosity is online at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

2013-044