LOS ANGELES, Calif. - NASA officials say the Curiosity rover has made its first scoop of the surface of planet Mars and has detected a bright object on the ground. <\/p>\n
Officials said in a news release Monday that they suspect the object might be a part of the six-wheeled rover, but they won't sample or scoop anymore until they figure out what it is. <\/p>\n
The Curiosity has already beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream once flowed on the planet. <\/p>\n
The rover landed Aug. 5 and is on a two-year, $2.5 billion mission to study whether microbial life could have existed on Mars in the past. <\/p>\n
Today's Mars is a frozen desert, but previous geological studies suggest it was once warmer and wetter. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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NASA: Mars rover Curiosity makes first scoop, detects bright object<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LOS ANGELES, Calif. - NASA officials say the Curiosity rover has made its first scoop of the surface of planet Mars and has detected a bright object on the ground Continue reading