Mars rover examines rock close up

The rover's arm manoeuvres the "hand lens" and
X-ray spectrometer close to the pyramidal rock 

Nasa's Curiosity rover has completed its first close-contact science.

The robot pushed its arm instruments up against a pyramidal rock to assess the atomic elements that were present.

The rock - dubbed "Jake Matijevic" after a late rover engineer - was not expected to have high research value. Rather, it was regarded as an early opportunity to demonstrate the performance of the arm's "hand lens" and X-ray spectrometer.

Curiosity has now continued driving.

On Monday, it moved some 42m (138ft), the single biggest roll for the robot since landing seven weeks ago in Mars' equatorial Gale Crater.

The vehicle is endeavouring to get to location that scientists have nicknamed Glenelg, which satellite images have indicated is a junction between three types of geological terrain.

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