Curiosity ready to dig into Martian sand

Mars' rover 'Curiosity' is already breaking ground on Mars, and now it's breaking ground in the social media universe.

The rover became "mayor" of Gale Crater on Friday by checking in through Foursquare, the location-based social network, just as it prepares to scoop up some Martian sand for testing. Curiosity had its own Twitter and Facebook accounts long before its momentous landing on the planet in August, and JPL plans to use Foursquare to keep track of the rover as it continues its two-year mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life.

-->

Foursquare names a user as mayor of a specific location for having more check-ins than anyone else. With its second check-in (the first was Wednesday), Curiosity has met the minimum requirement.

"We're all very excited," said Stephanie Smith, a social media manager for JPL "As the team names locations and the scientific team moves to new locations, the plan is for the rover to check in at each place."

Read more: sgv tribune

Posted in: Curiosity, Mars, NASA, Rover