The next Mars rover has been named “Perseverance” following the conclusion of a nationwide student essay contest conducted by the US space agency NASA, with tens of thousands of entries.
NASA announced Thursday that seventh grader Alexander Mather was the winner of the “Name the Rover” contest that received at least 28,000 entries from students in kindergarten through 12th grade “from every US state and territory.”
In addition to “Perseverance” being the new name of the six-wheeled Rover ahead of its takeoff this summer, Mather was able to read his winning essay in front of his fellow students during a live broadcast on NASA TV.
“We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere,” Mather said in his essay. “We, not as a nation, but as humans, will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.”
The space agency’s release noted that this is not the first time a nationwide contest has been used to name a rover destined for the red planet.
Amazon Web Services – a sponsor of the competition – will pay for Mather and his family to attend the summer launch of Perseverance. As of now, the Mars rover is set to land on the red planet’s Jezero Crater around 3:40 p.m. EST on February 18, 2021, according to the NASA news release.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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