Curiosity has made the first Foursquare check-in from another planet.

"One check-in closer to being Mayor of Mars!" the Mars rover Curiosity tweeted overnight from the Gale Crater. The tweet marks the first-ever Foursquare check-in from another planet and the second check-in from space, but more importantly, it ticks another box in Curiosity's social-networking cred.

According to David Weaver, associate administrator for communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, "NASA is using Foursquare as a tool to share the rover's new locations while exploring Mars". The aim is to connect with the public and give a real-time sense of the rover's Mars adventures.

It's part of a campaign to get the public more involved with science and space; later this year, Foursquare will release a "Curiosity badge" that users can earn by visiting science centres, laboratories and museums (although, that's probably US-only).

Want to connect to Curiosity on Foursquare? Head over here. And if you're not on Curiosity's Twitter feed, you should remedy that ASAP.