http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_sc/mars_drills

NASA scientists want to test the drills so they can be designed to go
deeper into the Martian surface, yielding more information about the
planet's history.

By digging deep, scientists will be able to analyze material not
affected by erosion or meteors and get a better understanding of how
the planet formed and if life ever existed on it.

"This is why we want to get deep," said Suparna Mukherjee, technical
lead for NASA's subsurface access group. "Right now, I believe the
record for drilling into Mars is 8.12 millimeters" — about a third of
an inch — "and out of it, we've gotten a huge amount of science."

The team is attempting a new record: 20 meters, or about 65 feet.
Scientists hope to achieve that goal with a machine that can't weigh
more than 77 pounds and operates on 75 watts of power. The drills
must also operate semiautonomously.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_sc/mars_drills

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