The drill has begun at a geologically interesting location nick-named ‘The Kimberley’.
In this selfie, Curiosity appears to be leaning its ‘head’ – a suite of instruments including the Chemcam and Mastcam cameras to the side – capturing the 5 km high Aeolis Mons (‘Mount Sharp’) on the horizon.
In coming days, the rover will conduct a preparatory ‘mini-drill’ operation to check the area for readiness, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement. The hammering drill on Curiosity collects powdered sample material from rocks and then delivers portions to laboratory instruments on board. The self portrait has been put together by Discovery News.