The Mars rover Curiosity has discovered an unusual "ball" on the surface of the Red Planet, and drilled the first hole in Mount Sharp. It was this mountain that attracted the attention of mission planners early on, and exploration of the geological feature is one of the primary goals of the program.
A hammering drill attached to the Curiosity rover penetrated 2.6 inches into the Martian rock, pulverizing the material. The powder left over from the operation was collected by instruments on board the craft.
"This drilling target is at the lowest part of the base layer of the mountain, and from here we plan to examine the higher, younger layers exposed in the nearby hills. This first look at rocks we believe to underlie Mount Sharp is exciting because it will begin to form a picture of the environment at the time the mountain formed, and what led to its growth," said Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Mars rover was launched from Earth on Nov. 26, 2011, landing in Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. The vehicle was first directed away from Mount Sharp, toward Yellowknife Bay, which was found to be the remains of an ancient lake bed dried up for more than three billion years. Chemicals and heating patterns discovered in the rock reveal the region once exhibited conditions suitable to the evolution of primitive life.
Curiosity then spent five months traveling more than five miles from Yellowknife Bay to Mount Sharp. Several times during the trip, mission engineers paused to examine locations of scientific interest. These included examination of Pahrump Hills in the Murray formation, as well as a "mini drill" test at one location in August, which was deemed too unstable for drilling.
Confidence Hill passed the first test, showing the area was suitable for study utilizing the hammering drill. This is the fourth time Curiosity has used the drill to carry out an examination of a rock, and the material at Confidence Hill is softer than any of the three samples.
Distinctive features in the Martian rock can reveal details about the composition and behavior of water in the ancient past. The Maven orbiter, a NASA spacecraft which recently reached the planet, is designed to study how Mars lost its water long ago, becoming the cold, dry world we see today.
A "Mars ball" discovered on the surface of the planet by the rover's Mastcam revealed the existence of a largely spherical rock. This artifact resembles a dirty tennis ball, but is a natural phenomenon, according to scientists. The photograph was taken on Sept. 11.
"We're putting on the brakes to study this amazing mountain. Curiosity flew hundreds of millions of miles to do this," Jennifer Trosper, deputy project manager for the Curiosity program at JPL, told reporters.
