Video: Curiosity’s First Scoopful of Ma

This video clip shows the first Martian material collected by the scoop on the robotic arm of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, being vibrated inside the scoop after it was lifted from the ground on Oct. 7, 2012.

The clip includes 256 frames from Curiosity’s Mast Camera, taken at about eight frames per second, plus interpolated frames to run at actual speed in this 32-frames-per-second version. The scoop was vibrated to discard any overfill. Churning due to vibration also serves to show physical characteristics of the collected material, such as an absence of pebbles.

The scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide, 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) long.