14 DAY TRIAL // The last time we checked up on NASA's Curiosity rover, the robotic explorer was getting ready to have a closer look at Mars' Mount Sharp and the area around it. Recent news says that, soon enough, the rover will get to play the miner.
Thus, NASA scientists announce that this week the Curiosity rover is to prick a Martian rock dubbed Mojave in an attempt to determine whether it can safely drill deep into it and collect some samples for analysis in its onboard laboratory.
Apparently, Curiosity has already had the chance to sting the Mojave rock once. For those more curious of the bunch, a photo of the small hole it made in it is available bellow. Still, further tests are needed before deep drilling can begin.
The researchers keeping tabs on the rover's activity on the Red Planet detail that this Martian rock is part and parcel of an outcrop known as Pahrump Hills. This outcrop is located at the base of the Red Planet's Mount Sharp.
Evidence at hand indicates that the Martian rock that is Curiosity's latest drilling target has mineral crystals included in its makeup. These mineral crystals might have formed when a lake that used to cover this region on Mars evaporated.
In case some of you were wondering, the Curiosity rover embarked on its journey towards Mars in November 2011. It reached the Red Planet in August 2012 and made a successful landing in an area known as the Gale Crater.
Ever since, the robotic explorer has been wandering around this corner of the Red Planet, snapping photos of the local landscape and trying to better understand the planet's climate and geology.
