<p>NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, which is seeking new insights on whether the Red Planet supported microbial life in past, is readying to ingest the rock sample it picked up a week ago.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The mission's chief scientist, John Grotzinger, said he expected this to happen very shortly.<br />The Curiosity rover, which is investigating a deep crater on the planet, drilled into what appears to be a mudstone, 'BBC News' reported.<br /><br />A portion of the grey powder produced in the process should now be sitting in the stem of the tool, and must be moved to the onboard labs for analysis.<br /><br />"We have to first confirm that the powder has moved up the drill stem," Grotzinger said.<br /><br />"From there, it will go into something called the drill assembly, which is about as big as a hockey puck. That's where the sample gets portioned before going through a set of tubes that takes it to some sieves," said Grotzinger.<br /><br />Particles measuring 150 microns (millionths of a metre) across, or less, only will be sent to the two big labs in the belly of the rover - Chemin and Sam.<br /><br />Curiosity is seeking new insights on past environmental conditions on the Red Planet - conditions that may have supported microbial life many billions of years ago.<br /><br />The lab analysis will describe the mineralogical make-up of the mudstone and try to identify any interesting carbon chemistry that might be present.<br /><br />The rover is currently investigating a series of layered deposits about half a kilometre from its landing point last August on the floor of the equatorial Gale Crater.<br /><br />It has seen numerous examples of rocks that were deposited in water or subsequently altered by it. Water remains one of the prerequisites for life as we know it on Earth.</p>
<p>NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, which is seeking new insights on whether the Red Planet supported microbial life in past, is readying to ingest the rock sample it picked up a week ago.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The mission's chief scientist, John Grotzinger, said he expected this to happen very shortly.<br />The Curiosity rover, which is investigating a deep crater on the planet, drilled into what appears to be a mudstone, 'BBC News' reported.<br /><br />A portion of the grey powder produced in the process should now be sitting in the stem of the tool, and must be moved to the onboard labs for analysis.<br /><br />"We have to first confirm that the powder has moved up the drill stem," Grotzinger said.<br /><br />"From there, it will go into something called the drill assembly, which is about as big as a hockey puck. That's where the sample gets portioned before going through a set of tubes that takes it to some sieves," said Grotzinger.<br /><br />Particles measuring 150 microns (millionths of a metre) across, or less, only will be sent to the two big labs in the belly of the rover - Chemin and Sam.<br /><br />Curiosity is seeking new insights on past environmental conditions on the Red Planet - conditions that may have supported microbial life many billions of years ago.<br /><br />The lab analysis will describe the mineralogical make-up of the mudstone and try to identify any interesting carbon chemistry that might be present.<br /><br />The rover is currently investigating a series of layered deposits about half a kilometre from its landing point last August on the floor of the equatorial Gale Crater.<br /><br />It has seen numerous examples of rocks that were deposited in water or subsequently altered by it. Water remains one of the prerequisites for life as we know it on Earth.</p>