PASADENA, Calif. — NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, Oct. 4, to provide a status update on the Curiosity rover’s mission to Mars’ Gale Crater.

Curiosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, is 56 days into a two-year mission to investigate whether conditions may have been favorable for microbial life.

For teleconference dial-in information, reporters must send their name, media affiliation and telephone number to Elena Mejia at elena.mejia@jpl.nasa.gov or call the JPL Media Relations Office at 818-354-5011.

Audio and visuals of the event will be streamed live online at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl .

Visuals will be available at the start of the event at: http://go.nasa.gov/curiositytelecon .

For information about NASA’s Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .