Which Mars rover was the first to drill into a Martian rock?

Curiosity was the first Mars rover to drill into a Martian rock and collect a sample from its interior.

The landmark drilling took place on February 8, 2013, at a rock called “John Klein” in the Yellowknife Bay area of Gale Crater. Curiosity’s rotary-percussive drill bored about 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) into the sedimentary bedrock and produced powdered material for onboard analysis.

That achievement was different from simply scraping or scooping surface soil. Curiosity delivered portions of the drilled powder to its internal laboratories, including CheMin for mineral identification and SAM for chemical analysis. The results showed that ancient Mars once had a watery environment with conditions potentially favorable for microbial life.

Earlier rovers had examined rocks and soil, but none had drilled into rock to collect an interior sample. Perseverance later introduced a more advanced coring system designed to seal rock cores for possible future return to Earth, but Curiosity holds the first-drilling milestone.