PIA23138: Curiosity's First Clay Unit Drill Hole
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Spacecraft:  Curiosity
 Instrument:  Mastcam
 Product Size:  2000 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA23138.tif (9.931 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA23138.jpg (494.8 kB)

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The Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this set of images before and after it drilled a rock nicknamed "Aberlady," on Saturday, April 6, 2019 (the 2,370th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). The rock and others nearby appear to have moved when the drill was retracted. This was the first time Curiosity has drilled in the long-awaited "clay-bearing unit."

The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.

Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam. A division of Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington and built the project's Curiosity rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Image Addition Date:
2019-04-11