spacetoday.net: Spirit drills hole in Mars rock

Posted: Mon, Feb 9, 2004, 11:32 AM ET (1632 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

The NASA Mars rover Spirit drilled the first "planned" hole in a Martian rock over the weekend as it and its twin rover continued their scientific investigation of the planet. Spirit's Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT), drilled a hole 4.5 centimeters across and 0.27 centimeters deep over the course of three hours on Saturday. The drilling exposed fresh portions of the rock under the surface that were studied by the rover's instruments on Sunday. Spirit had planned to back away from the rover late Sunday, but a software flag enabled after the rover experienced its computer problems last month kept the rover from moving. The flag has been unset and the rover will begin its trek Monday towards a crater dubbed Bonneville. On the other side of the planet, the twin rover Opportunity has been studying an outcrop of rocks on the side of the crater the rover landed in. Scientists plan to move the rover along the lower edge of the outcrop for the next several days.