NASA's Curiosity rover studies new rock on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover is studying its first rock on Mars-- and it's shaped like a pyramid.

NASA will carry out chemical tests on the rock nicknamed Jake for the next few days.

Jake is named in honor of an engineer who worked on all the rover missions. He passed away just days after Curiosity landed. The rock is about 10 inches tall and 16 inches wide. It appears to be made up of common Basalt.

That's similar to the first Martian rock that NASA's Spirit rover examined more than 8 years ago.

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NASA, mars, robots, national/world

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