Rover mission managers named the outcrop as a tribute to Mars scientist Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who served as a mission team member and taught planetary science at Arizona State University.
Bidders will have the chance to own items such as a signed tie worn by comedian Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes 2011 and a tie worn by Bruno Mars on Saturday Night Live.
The sample comes from a hole about 2.5 inches deep drilled on Feb. 8 in a flat plate of sedimentary bedrock that the space agency managers have named "John Klein" in memory of a Mars Science Laboratory deputy project manager who died in 2011.