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Planetary News: Mars Exploration Rovers (2003)NASA Names Mars Exploration Rovers
June 8, 2003
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Sofi Collis unveils the names of the rovers
Sofi Collis unveils the names of the rovers at the NASA pre-launch press conference, June 8, 2003. Partly visible on the left is NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe. Credit: The Planetary Society |
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL -- In a news briefing this morning, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe announced the winning names for the Mars Exploration Rovers. A contest run for NASA by the LEGO Company and The Planetary Society whittled approximately 10,000 entries down to 33, from which NASA chose the winning student and her entry: Sofi Collis, a 9 year old 3rd grade student from Arizona. In her essay, she submitted Spirit and Opportunity as her suggested names for the two rovers. The first spacecraft is scheduled to launch today (June 8), and the second on June 25.
These "robotic geologist" rovers arrive at Mars in January 2004.
The Name the Rovers contest was open for K-12 American students. Essays justifying the name selections ranged in length from 50 words to 500 words depending on the grade level.
The LEGO Company, The Planetary Society, and NASA promoted the contest, and LEGO ran the contest with assistance from the Society. The Planetary Society assembled an esteemed group of judges that narrowed and ranked the final 33 entries that went to NASA. These judges came from a variety of fields:
Andre Bormanis, Star Trek writer and science consultant
David Brin, science fiction author
Glenn Cunningham, former Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Observer Proj. Mgr.
M. Darby Dyar, Assoc. Prof. Astronomy, Mount Holyoke College
Matt Golombek, JPL, Co-chair landing site selection for MER, Proj. Sci. Mars
Pathfinder
Joe Oliver, Los Angeles Unified School District
Barbara Scott, Los Angeles Unified School District science teacher
Donna Shirley, Asst. Dean of Engineering, U. of Oklahoma, former JPL
Steve Williams, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
NASA then decided upon the winning entry from those 33. More information on the contest can be found at http://planetary.org/explore/topics/name_the_rovers/.
The winner, Sofi Collis, did the essay as part of a optional classroom project. Only informed earlier this week, and asked to keep things quiet until the announcement, Sofi's mother described the whole situation as still very hard to believe.
I used to live in an Orphanage.
It was dark and cold and lonely.
At night, I looked up at the sparkly sky and felt better.
I dreamed I could fly there.
In America, I can make all my dreams come true.....
Thank-you for the "Spirit" and the "Opportunity"Sofi Collis, age 9
"Sofi wrote a moving essay that caught many people's attention in the judging process," said Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce Betts. "Thousands got involved in Mars Exploration through this process. The icing on the cake is that Sofi and her family are absolutely charming." The Planetary Society also ran naming contests for Mars Pathfinder's Sojourner Truth rover, and the Magellan spacecraft.
The Planetary Society and the LEGO Company are already partnered in the Red Rover Goes to Mars project, an officially selected part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission that seeks to inspire and better involve students and the general public in Mars Exploration. It includes a Planetary Society provided DVD on each spacecraft that carries the names of four million Mars enthusiasts; the Astrobot Diaries, which are stories of the adventures of the "Astrobots," LEGO minifigure representations that appear on each MER DVD; Mars Stations, where using a web browser you can drive LEGO rovers in Mars environments around the world; and Student Astronauts, contest-selected international students who will work in operations at JPL during the MER mission.
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