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Curiosity was named by a Kansan teenager

Curiosity's official name is Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL or short. But, like all rovers, it has a one-word nickname. NASA picked Clara Ma's suggestion: Curiosity. Ma, now 15, was at JPL on landing night.
tn-pas-0819-photo-gallery-curiosity-mars-rover-022

( Tim Berger / Staff Photographer / August 18, 2012 )

Curiosity's official name is Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL or short. But, like all rovers, it has a one-word nickname. NASA picked Clara Ma's suggestion: Curiosity. Ma, now 15, was at JPL on landing night.

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