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| Curiosity Mars rover takes historic drill sample | Curiosity Mars rover takes historic drill sample |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent | By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent |
| Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover has finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis. | Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover has finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis. |
| The fine grey tailings from the 6cm-hole will be sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robot's onboard labs in the coming days. | The fine grey tailings from the 6cm-hole will be sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robot's onboard labs in the coming days. |
| It will represent a historic first in planetary exploration - never before has the interior of a rock on another world been probed in such a way. | It will represent a historic first in planetary exploration - never before has the interior of a rock on another world been probed in such a way. |
| The US space agency said the drilling was an immense achievement. | The US space agency said the drilling was an immense achievement. |
| "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America," said Prof John Grotizinger, the mission's chief scientist. | "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America," said Prof John Grotizinger, the mission's chief scientist. |
| Drilling is absolutely central to the rover's mission in Gale Crater, a deep bowl sited on Mars' equator. | Drilling is absolutely central to the rover's mission in Gale Crater, a deep bowl sited on Mars' equator. |
| Curiosity is investigating whether past environments at this location could ever have supported life, and getting inside rocks to analyse their make-up will provide some of the most telling evidence. | Curiosity is investigating whether past environments at this location could ever have supported life, and getting inside rocks to analyse their make-up will provide some of the most telling evidence. |
| Engineers have waited a full six months before deploying the drill tool, which is held on the end of the rover's 2.2m-long robotic arm. | |
| Its first action was just to hammer down briefly on a rock target last weekend - a simple check to prove the machinery was behaving as it should. | |
| This was followed in the week by the drill turning in the chosen rock to cut a shallow, 2cm hole. | This was followed in the week by the drill turning in the chosen rock to cut a shallow, 2cm hole. |
| It produced a fine powder that engineers deemed suitable to try to pick up. So, the command was given to drill a second hole that was deep enough to push some tailings into the tool's sample acquisition chamber. | It produced a fine powder that engineers deemed suitable to try to pick up. So, the command was given to drill a second hole that was deep enough to push some tailings into the tool's sample acquisition chamber. |
| Some of this material will be used to scrub the machinery's innards of any contamination that may have travelled with the rover from Earth. | |
| The rest will be sorted to a size and volume that can be put inside Curiosity's href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/instruments/spectrometers/chemin/" >Chemin and href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/instruments/spectrometers/sam/" >Sam labs. | |
| These instruments will determine the rock sample's precise chemistry and mineralogy, and identify any interesting carbon chemistry that may be present. | These instruments will determine the rock sample's precise chemistry and mineralogy, and identify any interesting carbon chemistry that may be present. |
| Chemin will likely set to work on the powder first. This is because its findings can influence the settings run the Sam experiments.. | Chemin will likely set to work on the powder first. This is because its findings can influence the settings run the Sam experiments.. |
| "We may alter our temperatures depending on what they see in Chemin," Paul Mahaffy, the principal investigator on Sam, told the BBC on Friday. | "We may alter our temperatures depending on what they see in Chemin," Paul Mahaffy, the principal investigator on Sam, told the BBC on Friday. |
| The flat slabs of rock currently being investigated by the rover have been dubbed "John Klein", the name of a Curiosity engineer who died in 2011. They lie in a small depression referred to as Yellowknife Bay, about half a kilometre from the robot's point of touchdown last year. | The flat slabs of rock currently being investigated by the rover have been dubbed "John Klein", the name of a Curiosity engineer who died in 2011. They lie in a small depression referred to as Yellowknife Bay, about half a kilometre from the robot's point of touchdown last year. |
| The rocks contain very fine-grained sediments but are cut through with pale veins of what could be calcium sulphate. | The rocks contain very fine-grained sediments but are cut through with pale veins of what could be calcium sulphate. |
| Curiosity has already seen plenty of evidence for past running water in Gale Crater and the results from the drill-hole analysis are expected to reveal further information about that wet history. | Curiosity has already seen plenty of evidence for past running water in Gale Crater and the results from the drill-hole analysis are expected to reveal further information about that wet history. |
| Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |