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Taking part in Mars exploration© St. Petersburg Times published January 4, 2003 Next summer, NASA, the people who put American astronauts on the moon and brought them safely home to planet Earth, will launch two search vehicles to the red planet, Mars. The craft, called the Mars Exploration Rovers, will bounce to a landing, zoom across the rocks and explore what no human has seen before. Perhaps neatest of all, a lucky grade-school student will give the craft their names. NASA is holding a naming contest, open to students from K-12. Kids from age 5 through 18 and attending U.S. schools, both here and overseas, can pick a name and write a short essay on why the rovers should carry that name to Mars. This is a wonderful way to involve schoolchildren in space exploration. Mars has long captivated American popular culture, from books to toys and film, and learning more about this fabled planet will foster a greater appreciation of the frontier beyond. LEGO, the toymaker, which is helping NASA with the contest, reminds that spacecraft and missions have traditionally been named after explorers or figures in mythology. That advice should make research for the essay even more fun and enriching. Entries must be received by Feb. 7, and the complete rules are available online, at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov. While NASA has the final decision on a name, the Planetary Society, which is helping coordinate the contest, is "very comfortable" that a list of 30 finalists will include something appropriate. The launches are scheduled for this summer and landings are expected in January 2004. What better way to spend a school vacation than taking a stab at becoming a part of history?
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From the Times Opinion page |
