Future Martians will help name NASA's next Mars rover
Naming competition open to kindergartners through 12th graders
Emilee Speck, Digital journalist
It's only fitting that the first generation to land on Mars will name NASA's next Mars robot that will help lay the path for human arrival in the next 20 years.
NASA's next Mars rover is set to launch next year from Cape Canaveral, hence why it has only been known as Mars 2020 up until this point. However, it's time the robot on wheels gets a more inspirational name.
NASA's Associate Administrator of Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen said the U.S. space agency is partnering with Battelle Education and Future Engineers to encourage U.S. school student's from kindergarten to 12th grade to submit names for the robot.
U.S. students will participate in the naming process by submitting 150-word essays to name NASA's next Mars rover. Kindergarten through 12th grade students have until Nov. 1 to submit their entries. Click here to register.
It's also not too late to send your name to Mars along with the mission.
NASA sent out an open invitation for the public to send their names to the red planet with the yet to be named rover Mars 2020. Click here to add your name by Sept. 30 and receive a boarding pass to Mars with your name on it.
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Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)A close up of a Mars 2020 wheel at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)NASA JPL Mars scientist Katie Stack Morgan on June 12, 2019 in the clean room viewing gallery above where NASA's next Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)A sign you are entering the Spacecraft Assembly Viewing Gallery at NASA JPL where visitors and staff can view Mars 2020. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)June 12, 2019: The feet of two engineers in "bunny suits" at the NASA JPL clean room under the Mars 2020 shield which will cover the rover on its journey to Mars in 2020. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)June 12, 2019: David Gruel, the Mars 2020 assembly, test and launch operations manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory, stands in the viewing gallery above where the rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)A close up of a Mars 2020 wheel at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)"Bob" the cleanroom dummy stands near the spacecraft that will transport Mars 2020 to the red planet. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020's Super Mastcam. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)NASA's Mars 2020 rover in the cleanroom at the Jet Propulsion Labratory in Pasadena, Cali. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)The entrance to NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory in Pasadena, Cali. on June 12, 2019. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)NASA's Mars 2020 rover in the cleanroom at the Jet Propulsion Labratory in Pasadena, Cali. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)The entrance to NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory in Pasadena, Cali. on June 12, 2019. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)"Bob" the clean room dummy stands near the spacecraft that will transport Mars 2020 to the red planet. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Mars 2020 team members inspect the rover's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Views from the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover set to launch in 2020 is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)June 12, 2019: Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)
Engineers take the cover off Mars 2020's mobility unit, which includes its wheels and suspension, inside the cleanroom at NASA JPL where the Mars rover is being assembled. (Image: Emilee Speck/WKMG)
The rover is currently being assembled and tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Most recently, the rover's wheels and suspension were mated to the robot's frame and the robot's "head" or mast was raised.
"Now that's a Mars rover," Mars 2020 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations Manager David Gruel said. "With the suspension on, not only does it look like a rover, but we have almost all our big-ticket items for integration in our rearview mirror -- if our rover had one."
Mars 2020, equipped with a suite of science instruments, will be searching for signs of life on Mars in the Jezero Crater.
United Launch Alliance will launch the spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in July 2020. The rover will land on Mars Feb. 18, 2021.
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