Curiosity (rover) the passion that drives us through our everyday lives." On August 6, 2013, "Curiosity" audibly played "Happy Birthday to You" in honor of the one Earth year mark of its Martian landing, the first time for a song to be played on another planet. This was also the first time music was transmitted between two planets. On June 24, 2014, "Curiosity" completed a Martian year—687 Earth days—after finding that Mars once had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. "Curiosity" will serve as the basis for the design of the Mars 2020 rover mission that is presently planned to be launched
Curiosity (rover) California, where she signed her name directly onto the rover as it was being assembled. Ma wrote in her winning essay: "Curiosity" landed in Quad 51 (nicknamed Yellowknife) of Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater. The landing site coordinates are: . The location has been named Bradbury Landing in honor of science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Gale crater, an estimated 3.5 to 3.8 billion-year-old impact crater, is hypothesized to have first been gradually filled in by sediments; first water-deposited, and then wind-deposited, possibly until it was completely covered. Wind erosion then scoured out the sediments, leaving an isolated mountain, Aeolis Mons