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Curiosity's high resolution colour images of Mars have been a huge draw for space fans worldwide. Mount Sharp, the mission's destination, is rising at the top left of the image. Blast marks seen in the foreground show where the rover landed days before. - photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's ancient rock formations have put us on the map once again, but this time the map is of a different planet.

A test model of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, right, pictured here with test models of rovers Sojourner, centre, and Spirit and Opportunity, left, landed on Mars, Aug. 5 in an area since named "Yellowknife" by scientists. - photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

After the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, landed in Gale Crater on Mars Aug. 5, scientists named the area "Yellowknife,” in honour of our Northern city.

"Now in addition to national and international advertising we have extraterrestrial," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem on Friday.

"It just came out on a lot of the wire services today so we'll see what happens."

While the name might come as a surprise to most Yellowknifers, the reason behind the scientists' decision is well-known among many in town and in the scientific community.

"We have some of the best preserved, very old volcanic rocks in the world," said Scott Cairns, chief geologist for the NWT Geoscience Office.

"I think if they're referring to very old rocks they're probably referring to Acasta gneiss. They are the oldest rocks in the world and those rocks give us a very rare glimpse into the very earliest part of history."

The only place in the world where the four billion-year-old Acasta gneiss is found about 300 km north of Yellowknife, he said.

Our claim to fame fits well with the spirit of Curiosity's 98-week mission. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is trying to determine whether there is evidence of past and present habitable environments on Mars. One of the important aspects of the study is the analysis of rock and soil samples from the Gale Crater for preserved evidence of life or a life-sustaining environment on Mars.

When scientists mapped the surface of Gale Crater, they divided the area into 151 quadrants of approximately 2.5 sq. km. Curiosity ultimately landed in Quad 51, a coincidental allusion to the military facility unofficially referred to as “Area 51,” and the area was renamed "Yellowknife.”

Curiosity will leave the quadrant as it moves closer to its goal, a 5 km tall mound called Mount Sharp, to study layers of rock and soil that have built up since an impact created Gale Crater more than three billion years ago.

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