14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, the Curiosity rover has drilled into a second target to extract material for analysis. The new target is close to the previous one, though it's a slightly different rock.
Scientists are both expecting to find results similar to the previous ones and hoping for some differences as well.
"Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called 'Cumberland'," NASA explained.
"Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars," it added.
The results from Curiosity's first analysis of samples from inside a Martian rock indicated that the site had, at one point, held pure liquid water, suitable for life.
The science team hopes to confirm the findings with the data from the new analysis. Of course, surprises are even more welcome.