(Sen) - Curiosity will soon start making its way across the
Martian surface, travelling 400 metres (1,300 feet) across Gale
Crater to an area called Glenelg where it will be the first
Martian rover to drill for a rock sample. Before turning its
wheels for the first time, Curiosity will try out its Chemcam,
zapping a small rock that is sitting just a few feet from the
rover's landing position. The rover, whose more formal name is
Mars Science Laboratory, landed at Gale Crater on August 6
(UTC). During its first two weeks on the Red Planet its complex
systems have been checked to ensure that its operations all
survived its incredible journey through the Martian atmosphere
to the surface. Before Curiosity starts driving to Glenelg, team
engineers managing the rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) will run a series of checks. Curiosity has six wheels but
only four - the front and back two - can be steered. Engineers
at JPL will first turn each wheel side-to-side and then line up
all the wheels in the sa