a 563,000,000 km (350,000,000 mi) journey. [6] The rover's  goals  include investigation of the Martian  climate ,  geology , and whether Mars could have ever supported  life , including investigation of the  role of water  and  planetary habitability , and preparing for human exploration. [7] [8] snip http://en.m.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Curiosity_rover http://en.m.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Curiosity_rover#section_3 ----------------------------