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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Attempted drill site at Inverness

Attempted drill site at Inverness
Attempted drill site at Inverness Curiosity attempted to drill at Inverness, a site in the "gray Jura" part of the Vera Rubin ridge, on sol 2170. The drill failed to penetrate the very hard rock. Then the rover suffered a computer anomaly on sol 2172. This photo of the drill site was taken after Curiosity returned to normal science operations, on sol 2217. In the 45 sols that separated the drilling and the photograph, wind had blown away all the powdered material from the drill site. The drill indentation is about 16 millimeters wide. NASA / JPL / MSSS