Curiosity rover
The Curiosity rover has three scoops which can dig up the soil on Mars so it can be studied. These scoops are kept clean by using Martian sand as an abrasive cleaner. Soil samples are studied inside Curiosity using a chemistry and mineralogy instrument called CheMin. CheMin uses X-ray diffraction to discover what minerals are in the soil samples. This information is then sent back to Earth.