Curiosity is the first element of the scientific attitude, a mindset of discovery that is comprised principally of curiosity, skepticism and humility, according to “David Myers’ Psychology” textbook.  Curiosity is also the name of the Mars Science Laboratory rover that was just landed on Mars at 12:35 a.m., Aug. 6.  According to the controlling team, the purpose of the Curiosity rover is to discover clues regarding the past or present existence of microbial life on the planet Mars.  Ever since humans were made aware of the existence of other worlds in the universe, we have wondered whether we are alone or if any of those other worlds might host fellow intelligences.  As early as the 15th century, astronomers and philosophers were proposing the possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligences. According to Astronomer Carl Sagan, the most notable among them is Christiaan Huygens, who in the year 1698 published his book “Cosmotheoros.”  Huygens was speculating on the probable existence of life on Jupiter and Mars due to his supposed observations of liquid water on their surfaces, and although he was mistaken about there being intelligent life elsewhere in our solar system, he did make an important observation that life as we know it can exist where there is water. A mostly frozen Mars could very easily now or in the past have harbored some smattering of organisms. 
The mission of Curiosity is to observe the strata, layers of dirt laid down over the centuries and exposed in Gale Crater, and to determine if, when and where liquid water and the life associated with it existed on the planet Mars.  Curiosity is the most recent and the largest of the attempts of Earth-bound, curious and intelligent beings to answer the age- old question of life outside our world.  This rover has been sent to Mars as part of the newly designed MSL class of automobile sized, one ton, roving laboratories landed by the remarkable Entry, Descent and Landing system. The MSL rover is the heir of the Viking, Spirit and Opportunity rovers, though Curiosity is powered by a core of radiating plutonium rather than solar panels due to its immensity and complexity, and the previous descent mechanisms had to be abandoned to safely make it through the rarefied atmosphere of Mars. While previous, smaller rovers simply used parachutes and bouncy inflatable balloons to land safely, the large roving biochemistry lab that is Curiosity utilizes the revolutionary powered descent harness, which brings the one ton rover down from five kilometers to 20 meters safely with rocket thrusters. Then, it lowers the rover to the ground on cables, to then rocket away empty to a safe distance to avoid throwing up too much dust and sand into the air. 
According to the NASA website, the Curiosity robotic laboratory has just begun its mission of discovery on the barren planet Mars.  After its marvelous success at landing (something that has only succeeded nearly one-third of the times attempted, according to Entry, Descent and Landing director Adam Steltzner) the aptly-named Curiosity will soon begin its odyssey of discovery in earnest and gather key information and clues about the past and present existence of life on Mars.  Perhaps one day soon Huygens’ and many others’ questions about our place in the universe will finally be pushed to the next frontier as we continue to probe the mysteries ofthe cosmos.