Over the past few years Duluth has occasionally had colder temps than the temp measured on Mars on the same day. I have gleefully pointed this out to friends in the warm south when it happens.

But, if PDD covered this last year, I missed it — how a small test drill hole on Mars made by the Curiosity Rover get named “Duluth”? I took the screen shot while looking at a series of last year’s space photos featured on the Washington Post’s web site, but the blog interface tells me I am not allowed to upload photos.

Maybe this was a hoax?

Does anyone know the story behind the name?

Here’s NASA’s news release on the momentous event of poking in the Martian dirt and naming it for our city: “Curiosity Successfully Drills ‘Duluth’“