Mars Rover Patched

Will spend next year traveling five miles.

Engineers successfully updated the Curiosity rover's computer software over the weekend and plan initial tests, within the next week or so, of the mobile science lab's ability to drive across the martian terrain, project officials said today.

"We couldn't be happier with the success of the mission so far," said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory deputy project scientist. "Most significantly at this point, since we're still in our commissioning phase, we have a fully healthy rover and payload."