WEATHER

7-DAY FORECAST

    Tonight Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 24.
Southwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 8 to 13 mph in the evening.
Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of
less than one inch possible.

    Saturday Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.
South wind 6 to 13 mph becoming west in the morning. Chance of
precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch
possible.

    Saturday Night Snow showers likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly
cloudy, with a low around 17. West northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance
of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half
inch possible.

    Sunday A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a
high near 30. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    Sunday Night A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy,
with a low around 12. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. New snow
accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    Monday A 40 percent chance of snow showers before 11am. Partly
sunny, with a high near 29. New snow accumulation of less than one
inch possible.

    Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 11.

    Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 31.

    Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 14.

    Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 35.

    Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 17.

    Thursday Sunny, with a high near 34.

    Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 14.

    Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.

Curiosity Drilling on Mars

PASADENA, Calif. - The drill on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used both percussion and rotation to bore about 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) into a rock on Mars and generate cuttings for evaluation in advance of the rover's first sample-collection drilling.

Completion of this "mini drill" test in preparation for full drilling was confirmed in data from Mars received late Wednesday at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. If the drill cuttings on the ground around the fresh hole pass visual evaluation as suitable for processing by the rover's sample handling mechanisms, the rover team plans to proceed with commanding the first full drilling in coming days.

An image of the hole and surrounding cuttings produced by the mini drill test is online at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16760.html .

The test was performed on a patch of flat, vein-bearing rock called "John Klein." The locations of earlier percussion-only testing and planned sample-collection drilling are also on John Klein.
Pre-drilling observations of this rock yielded indications of one or more episodes of wet environmental conditions. The team plans to use Curiosity's laboratory instruments to analyze sample powder from inside the rock to learn more about the site's environmental history.

The planned full drilling will be the first rock drilling on Mars to collect a sample of material for analysis.

Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Quietly Completes 9 Years Uncovering More Evidence of Water

Sols 3178 - 3208

NASA's Curiosity rover hammers into 1st Mars rock

Mercury’s False Moon: The Mercury/Mars Planetary Conjunction this Weekend