Curiosity Rover Prepares to Drill at Mars’ Nazca Site

WHO:

Space.com - NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and the Curiosity team are involved in examining the “Nazca” site.

NASA - The blog post was written by Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, UK.

WHAT:

Space.com - Curiosity is sizing up “Nazca” as its next dig site; the team plans to characterize the surface composition before drilling.

NASA - The blog identifies Nazca as the rover’s 49th drill hole.

NASA - The team returned to an area where it had found disc-shaped inclusions in rocks, which it interpreted as potential crystals.

WHERE:

Space.com - The site is on Mars.

NASA - The team returned to an area on Mars where disc-shaped rock inclusions had been found.

WHY:

Space.com - The Curiosity team intends to characterize Nazca’s surface composition as thoroughly as possible before drilling.

NASA - The team revisited the area because it had found disc-shaped inclusions that could be crystals.

HOW:

Space.com - The team plans to examine and characterize the site’s surface composition before drilling.

NASA - The team interpreted the disc-shaped inclusions as potential crystals; the blog says, “If they are indeed crystals,” indicating that their identity was not confirmed.

(UPDATED November 10, 2026 16:08 UTC)

NASA’s Curiosity rover is assessing Nazca on Mars as its next drilling site. The team will characterize the surface before drilling the rover’s 49th hole. Curiosity returned to rocks containing disc-shaped inclusions, possible crystals whose identity remains uncertain.