Ancient Mars Could Have Supported Life (Photos)

Setting the Scene for Curiosity's First Drilling

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

From a position in the shallow "Yellowknife Bay" depression, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological diversity. A lip defining the edge of Yellowknife Bay is visible in the middle distance near the center of the image and in the farther distance on the right. The scene is a combination of three mosaics taken on Sols (Martian days) 137, 138, and 141 of Curiosity's work on Mars (Dec. 24, 25 and 28, 2012).

Views of Curiosity's Drill

NASA/JPL-Caltech

These schematic drawings show a top view and a cutaway view of a section of the drill on NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. The section view on the right also indicates the flow of material within the drill bit. Image released Feb. 20, 2013.

Investigating Curiosity's Drill Area

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the images combined into this mosaic of the drill area, called "John Klein." The label "Drill" indicates where the rover ultimately performed its first sample drilling. The scene was imaged on Sol 166, the 166th Martian day of Curiosity's work on Mars (January 23, 2013).

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