The Mars rover Curiosity has its first destination in its MastCam sights, and its name is Glenelg.
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) science team members note that the title refers to a rock formation near Yellowknife, Canada, but the site's ultimate namesake goes back centuries to the remote Scottish highlands. There, amid thousand-foot mountains and roiling ocean currents, "Gleann Eilg," a Scots Gaelic title meaning "The Glens of Hunting," was sporadically inhabited by farmers, Christian missionaries, Jacobean revolutionaries, and, if local lore is to be believed, mythical creatures such as ocean-leaping giants and warrior queens.
More recent treatments of fictional tales - including the films Made of Honor, Prometheus, and Brave - have also taken place in the region, according to local artist Peter Jones.
Since news of NASA's naming decision broke, Glenelg Inn chef Niall McAdie reports, "there has been a great deal of discussion of the Mars mission, over a few ales."
The photo gallery above shows the stark beauty of the Glenelg peninsula in all of its four-season glory.
