5:10 Social Media

SHAWN- Homerun's web journalist Kelly Greig joins me in studio. Kelly- the Mars Rover is leaving for space in two days- and it will be updating it's Twitter and Facebook profiles along the way.

KELLY-

That's right.

NASA's Mars rover has its own Facebook and Twitter profile.

Her name is Curiosity- I say her because there's actaully a gender assigned to the rover on Facebook.

The rocket scientists at NASA decided to open a Facebook and Twitter account to make the updates more personal and connect with followers.

She speaks on her Twitter account from the first person

NASA's Courtney O'Connor who is the ghost author of Curiosity's accounts explained the social media connection like this; "Obscure pop culture references, song lyrics and some of the corniest jokes imaginable are just a few ways that we've transformed Curiosity from an inanimate piece of metal into a lovable rover with a life of her own,"

Curiosity has more than 144 000 followers on Twitter and over 43 000 likes on Facebook.

The rover is headed on a two-year mission to study whether Mars has ever had the elements needed to support microbial life.

And the findings will be updated on Twitter and Facebook.

Not sure how strong the Internet connection is.

Mars is afterall 54.6 million kilometers away from Earth at their closest point in orbit.

SHAWN- So what has Curiosity been saying?

Her latest Tweet:

"2 days to Mars!"

A few days ago on Twitter: n

"Timeline activated. Bleep-bop. I'm running entry, descent & landing flight software all on my own. "

Updating FB with pictures and models of what she'll be doing while on Mars.

Twitter handle: @MarsCuriosity

Facebook name is: NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover

SHAWN- That was Homerun's social media columnist Kelly Greig.