Curiosity (rover) proposed that a future launch might take multiple low-cost "Beagle"-type landers, with a realistic expectation that the vast majority would be successful, allowing exploration of several parts of Mars and possibly asteroids, all for considerably less cost than a single "normal" rover expedition. A NASA panel selected the name "Curiosity" following a nationwide student contest that attracted more than 9,000 proposals via the Internet and mail. A sixth-grade student from Kansas, twelve-year-old Clara Ma from Sunflower Elementary School in Lenexa, Kansas, submitted the winning entry. As her prize, Ma won a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,
Mount Sharp begin an journey from the Glenelg area to the base of Aeolis Mons. On November 13, 2013, NASA announced that an entryway "Curiosity" would traverse on its way to Aeolis Mons was to be named "Murray Buttes", in honor of planetary scientist Bruce C. Murray (1931–2013). The trip was expected to take about a year and would include stops along the way to study the local terrain. On September 11, 2014, NASA announced that the "Curiosity" rover had reached Aeolis Mons, the rover mission's long-term prime destination. On October 5, 2015, possible recurrent slope lineae, wet brine flows, were reported