In November, I blogged about a NASA contest to name the Mars Science Laboratory rover, now scheduled to launch in 2011. Well, more than 9,000 students in grades K-12 submitted essays, and NASA has just announced the nine finalists. Now it’s time for the public to vote. Voting is open today through Sunday, March 29.
After voting closes, NASA will use the poll results and the students’ essays to make a final decision, which they will announce in late April/early May. The student with the winning submission will be invited to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to sign the rover, and all 30 student semifinalists in the naming contest will have an opportunity to place their own messages on the chip. For worldwide participation beyond the contest, the public has a chance to participate in "Send Your Name to Mars." NASA will collect names to be recorded on a microchip that will be carried on the car-sized explorer. You can submit your name from the main voting web page (at the bottom of the entry form).
Looking at the nine finalists, I guess NASA wasn’t going for acronym names inspired by the sponsor of this contest, Disney’s animated film WALL·E (which stands for “Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class”). The agency appears to want to continue with “inspirational” nouns for its Mars rovers. Spirit and Opportunity were the winning names for the twin Mars rovers that landed on the Red Planet in January 2004. The new finalists continue along those lines with names such as Wonder, Adventure, and Vision. I found one entry that I’d like to see win, but which of the nine finalists inspires you?