Once the drill was completely retracted, the pellet was dropped into a drawer that withdrew and transferred the sample into a crushing station. The resulting powder will be distributed to ovens and containers for scientific analysis.

The whole operation was assisted by the eyes of the rover. The Panoramic Camera suite, known as PanCam, used its high-resolution camera to closely examine rock texture and grain size in colour.

On Mars, this powerful camera will help investigate very fine details in outcrops, rocks and soils from a distance, find the most promising spots to drill, and then take high resolution images of the samples sitting in the holder of the core sample transfer mechanism, before they are sent to the rover’s laboratory.