Photo: NASA
In July 2020, NASA will be sending to Mars the most important mission ever dispatched on an alien planet. The goal is to find alien life, collect samples for a future return to Earth, and even kick off our first terraforming efforts.
The leading role for this mission belongs to the new Mars rover. The 1-ton machine is equipped with seven instruments to be used for studying rocks, drilling in the ground, collecting weather data, and even generating oxygen.
The rover is now in its final testing stages in NASA’s laboratories, but despite most of the hardware being already in place, the rover still has no name.
Last fall, as it did with its previous rovers heading for the Red Planet, NASA launched a naming competition dedicated to K-12 students. This week, the final 155 entries have been announced, after a panel comprising educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts spent the last few months sipping through the 28,000 submissions.
The list of namest can be studied in detail at this link. The proposals include names like Propulsion Major Crater, Reconnoiter, or Asteria Morpheus. Others went for Wonderment, Cueillir, A.L.I.E.T.T., and there’s even a proposal that reminds us of Stan Lee: Excelsior.
The list will be further narrowed down, including by means of online public vote, until only 9 names are left. The kids behind these names will then have to face a panel of experts that include astronauts and engineers. The final name of the Mars rover will be announced in the early days of March 2020.
"This rover is the first leg of a round-trip mission to Mars that will advance understanding in key science fields like astrobiology," said in a statement Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.
"This contest is a cool way to engage the next generation and encourage careers in all STEM fields. The chosen name will help define this rover's unique personality among our fleet of Martian spacecraft."
The rover is now in its final testing stages in NASA’s laboratories, but despite most of the hardware being already in place, the rover still has no name.
Last fall, as it did with its previous rovers heading for the Red Planet, NASA launched a naming competition dedicated to K-12 students. This week, the final 155 entries have been announced, after a panel comprising educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts spent the last few months sipping through the 28,000 submissions.
The list of namest can be studied in detail at this link. The proposals include names like Propulsion Major Crater, Reconnoiter, or Asteria Morpheus. Others went for Wonderment, Cueillir, A.L.I.E.T.T., and there’s even a proposal that reminds us of Stan Lee: Excelsior.
The list will be further narrowed down, including by means of online public vote, until only 9 names are left. The kids behind these names will then have to face a panel of experts that include astronauts and engineers. The final name of the Mars rover will be announced in the early days of March 2020.
"This rover is the first leg of a round-trip mission to Mars that will advance understanding in key science fields like astrobiology," said in a statement Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.
"This contest is a cool way to engage the next generation and encourage careers in all STEM fields. The chosen name will help define this rover's unique personality among our fleet of Martian spacecraft."
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