NASA MARS Curiosity Rover Image: Curiosity bores into Windjana rock

NASA's Rover Curiosity snaps selfie at Kimberley waypoint with towering Mount Sharp backdrop on April 27, 2014 (Sol 613). 

Inset shows MAHLI camera image of rovers mini-drill test operation on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615) into “Windjama” rock target at Mount Remarkable butte. 

MAHLI Mastcam color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 613, April 27, 2014. 

Credit: NASA /JPL /MSSS /Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer

Three days ago, the burning question was "To Drill or not to Drill?"

The answer has come fast and furious – "Drill, Baby, Drill !"

After spending the weekend inspecting an enticing slab of sandstone rock at "Kimberley", the team directed NASA's Curiosity rover to bore a test hole into a Martian rock target called "Windjama" on Tuesday, April 29, Sol 615, that exhibited interesting bumpy textures.

"A decision about full drilling is planned in coming days," NASA press officer Guy Webster told me today.

Engineers commanded Curiosity to perform the so called "mini-drill" operation at "Windjama"- as the site of the robots third drilling operation since touching down on the Red Planet back in August 2012.

The 1 ton robot drilled a test hole 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and to a depth of about 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) using the hammering drill at the terminus of the robotic arm.

Windjama is an outcrop of sandstone located at the base of a Martian butte named Mount Remarkable at "The "Kimberley" waypoint, a science stopping point reached by the rover in early April 2014 along its epic trek to towering Mount Sharp, the primary destination of the mission.

Hazcam fisheye camera image shows Curioisty drilling into “Windjama” rock target on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615). Flattened and colorised image shows Mount Remarkable butte backdrop. 

Credit: NASA /JPL /Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer

The team is evaluating the resulting hole and powdery, gray colored tailings with the arm's high resolution MAHLI camera and other instruments to determine whether to follow up with a deep drilling operation to a depth of 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters).

To prepare for the "mini drill" operation, Curiosity first brushed the candidate drill site off with the wire-bristle Dust Removal Tool (DRT) this past weekend, to clear away obscuring Red Planet dirt and dust hindering observations with the cameras and spectrometers.

"In the brushed spot, we can see that the rock is fine-grained, its true color is much grayer than the surface dust, and some portions of the rock are harder than others, creating the interesting bumpy textures," said Curiosity science team member Melissa Rice of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena., in a NASA statement

NASA MSL Mars: Curiosity Rover pulls into Kimberly and spies curvy terrain for drilling

Martian landscape with rows of curved rock outcrops at ‘Kimberly’ in the foreground and spectacular Mount Sharp on the horizon. 

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover pulled into Kimberly waypoint dominated by layered rock outcrops as likely drilling site. 

This coloured navcam camera photomosaic was assembled from imagery taken on Sol 576 (Mar. 20, 2014). 

Credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech /Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer

NASA's Curiosity rover has just pulled into gorgeous terrain chock full of curvy rock outcrops at Kimberly that's suitable for contact science and drilling action, according to the mission team.

The six wheeled Martian dune buggy drove into the dazzling Kimberly waypoint this week after traversing a swath of otherworldly dune fields since passing through a gateway known as the 'Dingo Gap' sand dune some six weeks ago.

The robot's arm has been deployed to investigate the most scientifically productive spots to touch Kimberly's textured outcrops for detailed scrutiny.

The science team has been hunting for tasty rock outcrops suitable for the first drilling campaign since she departed the dried out lakebed at Yellowknife Bay in July 2013 and began her epic trek across the floor of Gale Crater towards the base of Mount Sharp.

With each passing Sol, or Martian day, Mount Sharp looms larger and larger and the historical layers with deposits of hydrated minerals potentially indicative of an alien habitable zone come ever clearer into focus.

About a month ago on Feb. 19 (Sol 548), Curiosity couldn't resist the urge to pause mid dune drive, just like a tourist, and snap fabulous imagery of multiple rows of striated rocks at the Junda outcrop – see our mosaics below.

Junda appeared remarkably similar to Kimberly, about 1 kilometer back.

So after executing a final series of short bumps edging ever closer to the outcrops this week, Curiosity parked at the periphery of Kimberly on Thursday, March 20, Sol 576, and captured breathtaking imagery of the rocky rows dominated by towering Mount Sharp on the distant horizon.

"The images [at Kimberly] show nice outcrops in front of the rover, suitable for contact science," according to science team member Ken Herkenhoff in a mission update.

Curiosity looks back at Martian sand dunes and rover tracks after passing by Junda outcrop (right) on Sol 548 (Feb. 19, 2014) with Gale Crater rim and Mount Sharp on the distant horizon. Navcam colorized photomosaic. 

Credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech /Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer

This weekend, the state of the art robot is conducting contact science with the cameras and spectrometers on the terminus of the 7 foot long robotic arm and the mast mounted ChemCam laser and high resolution cameras to determine the best spot for drilling and sampling.

The team commanded Curiosity to clean out the arms CHIMRA sample handling mechanism in anticipation of boring into the Martian outcrops and delivering powdery, pulverized samples of cored Martian rocks to the SAM and CheMin miniaturised chemistry labs waiting patiently inside the robots belly to eat something exciting from the Red Planet.

"The arm will be deployed to "thwack" and vibrate CHIMRA to clean out any remnants of the "John Klein" [drilling] sample, followed by Mastcam and RMI imaging of the CHIMRA sieve," says Herkenhoff.

Scientists directed Curiosity on a pinpoint drive to Kimberly after their interest was piqued by orbital images taken by the powerful telescopic camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) circling overhead.

"At Kimberly, we see three terrain types exposed and a relatively dust-free surface," said science team collaborator Katie Stack, California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena.

The missions science focus has shifted to "search for that subset of habitable environments which also preserves organic carbon," says Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover will likely drill into this layered rock outcrop, near the center of the mosaic, at the Kimberly waypoint. 

This photomosaic was assembled from high resolution Mastcam 34 camera images taken on Sol 574 (March 18, 2014). 

Credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech /Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer

NASA MARS Curiosity: Starts Drilling

The percussion drill in the turret of tools at the end of the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been positioned in contact with the rock surface in this image from the rover's front Hazard-Avoidance Camera (Hazcam).

The drill was positioned for pre-load testing, and the Hazcam recorded this image during the 170th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Jan. 27, 2013).>br />
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is sizing up a target rock and flexing its robotic arm ahead of its first-ever drilling activity on the Red Planet, which should take place in the coming days.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover pressed down on the rock in four different places with its arm-mounted drill Monday (Jan. 27). These "pre-load" tests should allow mission engineers to see if the amount of force applied matches predictions, researchers said.

The six-wheeled robot won't be ready to start boring into the rock until it completes several additional hardware tests and other checks, which should keep the rover busy through at least the end of this week, they added.

DLR Mars InSight: HP3-Experiment uses German Drill technology - YouTube

After the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity by NASA has approved a further landing mission on Mars.

The InSight mission will be ready in 2016 and will arrive after a six-month flight to Mars. With InSight there should be a number of geophysical experiments to take a look at the interior of the Red Planet, including the German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed experiment HP3, which will penetrate several meters into the Martian soil.

This experiment make heat flow measurements make and investigate the thermo-mechanical properties of the Martian soil. InSight is a mnemonic for 'Interior Exploration using Seismic investigations, geodesy and heat transport'.

The mission name shows that this mission is primarily focussed on geophysical experiments which are conducted on and under the surface of Mars, for example, by measuring the velocity of seismic waves or the flow of heat.

The aim of the mission is to understand the structure and condition of the core and cladding, and the thermal evolution of Mars.

The InSight HP3 experiment was developed at DLR. HP3 "Heat Flow and Physical Property Package".

For more information: s.dlr.de/vmu5