First laser-zapped rock on Mars

This composite image, with magnified insets, depicts the first laser test by the Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover.

The ChemCam instrument will be firing a series of powerful, but invisible, laser pulses at target rocks and soil for at least the next two years, according to the NASA schedule. It's located on the rover's mast, near the Navigation camera that took this image. A telescopic camera known as the remote micro-imager will show the atomic context of the spots hit with the laser.

The circular insert highlights the rock before the laser test. The square inset is further magnified and processed to show the difference between images taken before and after the laser interrogation of the rock.