( CNN ) -- Martian rock N165 , it 's your time to shine , or glow , or whatever occurs when a hard substance gets zapped by a laser beam . From about 10 feet away , the Mars rover Curiosity 's ChemCam was to take aim Saturday night at the hapless three-inch rock . `` We are going to hit it with 14 millijoules of energy 30 times in 10 seconds , '' Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory told reporters . A millijoule is 1/1000th of a joule , which is way too complicated to explain here . Suffice to say , it should get the job done . India to launch Mars orbiter in 2013 . ChemCam , short for Chemistry and Camera , will analyze the resulting glowing , ionized gas in an effort to identify chemical elements in the rock . Scientists say it will be the first time such a powerful laser has been used on another planet . The laser works in conjunction with a telescope . NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Friday that Curiosity 's first driving destination will be Glenelg , about 1,300 feet from the rover 's landing site . `` We had a bunch of strong contenders . It is the kind of dilemma planetary scientists dream of , but you can only go one place for the first drilling for a rock sample on Mars , '' said project scientist John Grotzinger . `` That first drilling will be a huge moment in the history of Mars exploration . '' The mobile science lab touched down on Mars early on August 6 and has been beaming back images of the surface of Gale Crater ever since . The rover 's primary target is Mount Sharp , a peak about 8 kilometers ( 5 miles ) away . But moving about a football field a day , with lengthy stops , it could take nearly a year to reach the slopes at the base of the mountain . Complete coverage of Mars . Mars 'Mohawk Guy ' inspires Obama .
Discovery 's mission was to zap small Martian satellites on Saturday night . It will analyze ionized gas to identify chemical elements . Curiosity landed in Gale crater on August 30 ; scientists have been studying its systems .