Nine finalists in Mars 2020 rover naming contest
The nine finalists in the Mars 2020 rover naming contest have been chosen, out of 28,000 entries from schools across the United States.
The nine candidate names were made possible by the “Name the Rover” essay contest, which invited students in kindergarten through 12th grade from across the United States to come up with a fitting name for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and write a short essay about it.
More than 28,000 essays were submitted after the contest began on Aug. 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.
The public now gets to vote for their favorite, the choices of which are: Endurance, Tenacity, Promise, Perseverance, Vision, Clarity, Ingenuity, Fortitude, Courage. For the next week you can vote here. NASA will then take the poll results into consideration before making its final choice.
My personal favorite is Endurance. Vote for your own.
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The nine finalists in the Mars 2020 rover naming contest have been chosen, out of 28,000 entries from schools across the United States.
The nine candidate names were made possible by the “Name the Rover” essay contest, which invited students in kindergarten through 12th grade from across the United States to come up with a fitting name for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and write a short essay about it.
More than 28,000 essays were submitted after the contest began on Aug. 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.
The public now gets to vote for their favorite, the choices of which are: Endurance, Tenacity, Promise, Perseverance, Vision, Clarity, Ingenuity, Fortitude, Courage. For the next week you can vote here. NASA will then take the poll results into consideration before making its final choice.
My personal favorite is Endurance. Vote for your own.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I think Opportunity would vote for Endurance.
I find it interesting that there are no votes from China. Is China blocking the site?
There are even votes from Iran.
Also, Turkey seems to be voting at a brisk pace.
“Wild Irish” failed to make the final list…hmmm.
So, kinda lean toward Promise.
My vote’s for Endurance as well, due to the connection to Ernest Shackleton
It’s rigged, why bother voting?
Are the elites in the scientific community still upset that boatymcboatface was better than any of the names they could imagine?
Even when they give a list of approved names, they rig the outcome. This is a symptom of the slide toward totalitarianism we are experiencing right now.
Rovermcroverface?
I still laugh out loud about “Boaty McBoatface.” I see that the voting in this case is merely for consideration. Here are my suggestions:
MR005: Typical scientist-given name. Mars Rover Number 5. Extra zeros to accommodate a ridiculous number of additional rovers with the same naming convention.
Stinky: I’d like to hear this repeated on the news
Gary: Spongebob’s pet snail. The rover is slow, like a snail
Trump: Would reduce the population of the earth because of the exploding heads. Scoldilocks would approve of that because of the reduction in carbon foot print.
Shakleton: Famous Antarctic explorer
Super Tortoise: It’s super slow. There are no copyright issues with this name.
Hondo works for me – just add a robotic dog named Sam (maybe Japanese?)