Answer: What In The World Happened Here? CXLVI: (146)
Dropping the penny.
The Reg & the Forbes articles both mentioned a 20 foot test drive, plus a 1300 foot drive to Glenelg. Which adds up to 1320 feet. And the posting count serendipitously happened to be close enough to a quarter-mile.
So, the waggabrain saw that, no matter how long it took, Curiosity would own the lowest ET (Elapsed Time) Quarter Mile record for a nuclear-powered rover on Mars. Even if you needed a calendar rather than a stop-watch. What a drag! OK, it's a bit of a stretch, but that is what WITWHH is all about, even if it is not on this world.
Which leads me to believe that posting an encrypted answer on all new puzzles is fair and reasonable. Even if it looks like the Polish National Anthem.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
