Curiosity at the Sands of Mars

The rover will get to use its scoop

The Mars rover Curiosity will get to try out its scoop this weekend, according to current NASA plans.

"The request that the engineers made to the scientists was: Find us a good sandbox, a good sand pit, to play in here, on our way to Glenelg," said Mike Watkins, Curiosity mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, at a press conference Thursday. "This site, Rocknest, is exactly that."