A close-up of the hole drilled by the Mars Curiosity rover. (EPA)
For the first time ever human beings have drilled into a planet other than Earth, and you can see the fruits of that labor in an amazing panoramic shot from NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover.
On Feb. 8, the rover drilled a hole barely big enough to hold the tip of your pinkie finger into a rock nicknamed “John Klein,” according to Wired.
This is the most complicated operation the rover has completed to date.
The rock the rover drilled into is in an area called the Yellowknife Bay that scientists believe was repeatedly flooded with water in the past.
The tiny 1.6 centimeter across hole is a test in preparation for the rover’s big time drilling operation when it will drill 5 cm into Mars’ surface in order to analyze the planet’s interior.