Gallery: Curiosity Rover Prepares to Drill Into Rocks That Were Once Saturated With Water
01drill-site-selected
*A veined rock in Yellowknife Bay nicknamed "John Klein" will be the first drill site for the Curiosity rover. The area contains a wide diversity of rock types. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16567.html)*
02rock-diversity
*Three different rocks at the side are A, a "bread-crusted" rock, whose fractured surface suggests the outer part expanded relative to the interior. B is representative of the material that will be sampled at the John Klein site, showing both light-toned veins and dark spots. And C is an exotic black rock probably ejected by an impact. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16568.html)*
03brushed-rock
*A closeup image from the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), showing different grain sizes in the sedimentary rock. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16566.html)*
04yellowknife-bay
*The area that Curiosity is exploring, named Yellowknife Bay, contains rocks with veins of material, indicating flowing water in the past. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16569.html)*
05sheepbed-rocks
*Lower and therefore older rocks in an outcrop nicknamed Sheepbed show cracks and veins filled with whitish minerals, interpreted as calcium sulfate. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16705.html)*
06sphericules-in-yellowknife
*A rock in Yellowknife Bay covered in small sphericules common on Mars, which formed in water that percolated through pores in the sediment. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16706.html)*
07underwater-dune-fossils
*This outcrop, nicknamed "Shaler," contains the fossils of underwater dunes that formed at the bottom of an ancient river on Mars. [NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16707.html)*
