spacetoday.net: Curiosity drills into Martian surface

Posted: Wed, May 7, 2014, 6:54 AM ET (1054 GMT)
Windjana drill hole made by Curiosity (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has drilled into a slab of sandstone on the Martian surface, the third time the spacecraft has used its drill to collect samples from the interior of rocks there. The rover drilled a hole about 6.5 centimeters deep into a rock dubbed Windjana, collecting powered rock that will be delivered to instruments on the rover for analysis. Scientists noted the tailings from the drilling had a different color from those at two previous drilling sites in a region about 2.5 kilometers away. Scientists hope the sample, the first collected by the rover's drill in nearly a year, will provide new information on the formation of sedimentary rocks in a region that was once the bottom of a lake.