A seventh grader named NASA’s newest Mars rover

Perseverance is scheduled to land in a dry river delta in February 2021

The next NASA Mars rover now has a name, Perseverance. It took its first drive in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The rover is set to launch to the Red Planet in July.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

By Lisa Grossman

Meet Perseverance. It’s NASA’s next ambassador to the Red Planet.

The Mars rover’s new name was announced March 5. NASA held a six-month “Name the Rover” competition. It drew more than 28,000 entries from students in kindergarten through high school. Students were asked to make their name suggestions in essays.

The winning entry came from 7th grader Alex Mather. He became interested in becoming a NASA engineer after he attended the space agency’s Space Camp at age 11.  

Alex read from his winning essay at the official naming event, which was broadcast from Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Va. “We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars,” he said. “However, we can persevere.”

Mather’s prize? An invitation for him and his family to witness the rover’s launch in July from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Perseverance will search for signs of past life in an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater. That crater is shown in this image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.ASU, JPL-Caltech/NASA

A team of 4,700 volunteer judges whittled the submitted entries down to 155. NASA then selected the winner. Other finalists included Clarity, Courage, Endurance, Fortitude, Ingenuity, Promise, Tenacity and Vision. (Full disclosure: This reporter was one of the volunteer judges in the contest.)

The six-wheeled vehicle was formerly known simply as “Mars 2020.” It is slated to land in a dry river delta in Mars’ Jezero Crater in February 2021.

The rover will then undertake a two-year mission. During that, Perseverance will seek signs of ancient life in the crater. The rover also will collect and store Martian dirt and rock. Another mission to Mars in the future can then bring the samples back to Earth.

Power Words

More About Power Words

broadcast: To cast — or send out — something over a relatively large distance. A farmer may broadcast seeds by flinging them by hand over a large area. A loudspeaker may send sounds out over a great distance. An electronic transmitter may emit electromagnetic signals over the air to a distant radio, television or other receiving device. And a newscaster can broadcast details of events to listeners across a large area, even the world.

crater: A large, bowl-shaped cavity in the ground or on the surface of a planet or the moon. They are typically caused by an explosion or the impact of a meteorite or other celestial body. Such an impact is sometimes referred to as a cratering event.

delta: Land that forms in the mouth of a river as silt that had been carried in the water settles out as currents slow when the river meets a larger body of water. Deltas allow the water to fan out in new channels, and sometimes to create wetlands for waterbirds and other animals. 

engineer: A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need. (v.) To perform these tasks, or the name for a person who performs such tasks.

high school: A designation for grades nine through 12 in the U.S. system of compulsory public education. High-school graduates may apply to colleges for further, advanced education.

ingenuity: A term for skill, cleverness or inventiveness.

Mars: The fourth planet from the sun, just one planet out from Earth. Like Earth, it has seasons and moisture. But its diameter is only about half as big as Earth’s.

NASA: Short for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Created in 1958, this U.S. agency has become a leader in space research and in stimulating public interest in space exploration. It was through NASA that the United States sent people into orbit and ultimately to the moon. It also has sent research craft to study planets and other celestial objects in our solar system.

perseverance: The quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult.

planet: A celestial object that orbits a star, is big enough for gravity to have squashed it into a roundish ball and has cleared other objects out of the way in its orbital neighborhood.

Red Planet: A nickname for Mars.

species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.

tenacity: (adj; tenacious) To pursue something to completion or to hold onto something without letting go; never giving up.

Citations

Press release:​ ​​ NASA. Virginia middle school student earns honor of naming NASA’s next Mars rover. March 5, 2020.

About Lisa Grossman

Lisa Grossman is the astronomy writer at Science News. She has a degree in astronomy from Cornell University and a graduate certificate in science writing from University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives near Boston.