NASA announced a contest, which will give American school kids a chance to
make history, by naming two rovers being launched to explore Mars.
The robotic explorers are part of NASA’s upcoming Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
mission. The twin rovers will land at two different locations on the mysterious
red planet to explore the surface in search of answers about the history of
water on Mars.
The NASA “Name the Rovers” contest is a collaborative effort between NASA and
the LEGO Company. The LEGO Company will manage the contest in conjunction with
The Planetary Society. The contest provides students with the unique opportunity
to suggest a name for each of the two Mars-bound rovers, temporarily known as
MER-A and MER-B. The rovers are scheduled to launch in May and June 2003
respectively. The rovers are scheduled to land on Mars in January 2004.
“We are very excited about providing students with an opportunity to actively
participate in the next mission to Mars,” said Dave Lavery, Program Executive
for Solar System Exploration at NASA Headquarters. “We are eagerly looking for
some really creative and innovative ideas from the students as they compete to
name the next Mars rovers and become part of history.”
“The LEGO Company is dedicated to furthering hands-on discovery, playful
learning, and the boundless frontiers of imagination. Space exploration also
embraces these qualities, which is why the LEGO Company is so pleased to partner
with NASA,” said Brad Justus, LEGO Senior Vice President. “By involving children
actively in the Mars mission, through the ‘Name the Rovers’ contest and with
other related activities, we hope to help excite and inspire the next generation
of space explorers, ” he said.
The NASA “Name the Rovers” contest is open to students 5 to 18 years of age who
attend a U.S. school and are enrolled in the Fall 2002 school season.
Submissions must include suggested names for both rovers and a 50-500 word essay
justifying why the students believe the names should be chosen. The contest has
many educational benefits and encourages students to do research for their
essays and to learn more about Mars and space exploration.
The contest is open for submissions through January 31, 2003. NASA will announce
the contest winners prior to launching the rovers in the spring of 2003.
Information about the contest is available at: http://www.nametherovers.org
Information about the Mars Exploration Rovers is at:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer