More than 28,000 essays were submitted after the contest began on August 28 last year. A diverse panel of nearly 4,700 judge volunteers, composed of educators, professionals and space enthusiasts from all around the country, narrowed the pool down to 155 deserving semifinalists from every state and territory in the country. “Thousands of students have shared their ideas for a name that will do our rover and the team proud,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division in Washington. “Thousands more volunteered time to be part of the judging process. Now it is the public’s opportunity to become involved and express their excitement for their favorites of the final nine.” The nine finalists (submission name, grade level, student name, and state) are:
Endurance, K-4, Oliver Jacobs of VirginiaTenacity, K-4, Eamon Reilly of PennsylvaniaPromise, K-4, Amira Shanshiry of Massachusetts
Perseverance, 5-8, Alexander Mather of VirginiaVision, 5-8, Hadley Green of MississippiClarity, 5-8, Nora Benitez of California
Ingenuity, 9-12, Vaneeza Rupani of AlabamaFortitude, 9-12, Anthony Yoon of OklahomaCourage, 9-12, Tori Gray of Louisiana
The poll opens online today and will remain open through January 27 until 9 p.m. PST (midnight EST). The results of the poll will be a consideration in the final naming selection. For the poll, visit: Go.nasa.gov/name2020 After the poll closes, the nine student finalists will discuss their rover names with a panel including Glaze, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, NASA-JPL rover driver Nick Wiltsie and Clara Ma, who earned the honor of naming the Mars rover Curiosity as a sixth-grade student in 2009. The contest will conclude in early March, when the rover’s new name – and the student behind it – are announced. The grand prize winner will also receive an invitation to see the spacecraft launch in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The currently unnamed rover is a robotic scientist weighing more than 2,300 pounds (1,000 kilograms). It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet’s climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. Scheduled to launch in July or August 2020, the rover will land in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. The naming contest partnership is part of a Space Act Agreement in educational and public outreach efforts between NASA, Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, and Future Engineers of Burbank, California. JPL built and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.
