Zap! NASA's Curiosity Rover Fires 100,000th Laser Shot on Mars

NASA's trigger-happy Curiosity rover has fired its 100,000th laser shot on Mars, a science milestone in its mission to determine what rocks on the Red Planet are made of, NASA announced Thursday.

Each laser pulse shot by the Curiosity rover packs the power of nearly 1 million light bulbs — strong enough to vaporize rock and dust from up to 30 feet away.

#PewPew #PewPewPew I've fired my ChemCam laser 100,000+ times on Mars for SCIENCE! https://t.co/yA5j5OQ8ut pic.twitter.com/jGiOMdruWY

— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) December 5, 2013