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Mars rover drill reveals gray under Red Planet’s surface

When the Mars Curiosity rover drilled into its first rock earlier this month, it gave us a closeup look at what lay underneath, and showed that when you dig below its surface, the Red Planet actually turns up gray.

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The rover deployed the drill at the end of its arm back on Feb. 8, picking out two spots on the rock outcropping known as "John Klein" (named after a deputy principal investigator for the Curiosity mission, who passed away in 2011) and drilled two holes, 1.7cm wide by 6.4cm deep. As of last week, the rover ingested the dust gathered from the drilled holes, one sample to scrub its interior clean of any contaminants brought along with it from Earth or from previous Martian samples, and a second one which is now being analyzed to see the composition of the rock.

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It will be a little while longer before get the results of that analysis, but while we wait, Curiosity was kind enough to snap this impressive panorama of the surrounding Marsscape, which includes Mount Sharp (its ultimate destination, directly in front when the panorama loads), the spot where it drilled (look down and to the right), and yet another great self-portrait. Check it out at the link below, and be sure to pan around, zoom in and out, and even look up at the Sun in the Martian sky. The detail of the photographs is incredible, and it's really the closest thing we have right now to standing on the surface of another planet.

Mars Panorama - Curiosity Rover: Martian Solar Day 177

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