By Tim Binnall
In anticipation of its launch later this year, NASA's next Mars Rover has been given an official name: Perseverance. Previously dubbed simply 'Mars 2020,' the craft's new moniker came by way of an essay written by a Virginia seventh-grader named Alexander Mather as part of a contest held by the space agency. After receiving a whopping 28,000 entries from schoolchildren across America, NASA whittled down the possible choices to a mere 155 that were judged by a panel of experts which ultimately settled on the youngster's suggestion of Perseverance which was announced at an event on Thursday.
In his piece, Mather noted that the names of previous craft, like Curiosity and Spirit, embody "qualities we possess as humans." As such, he posited that "if rovers are to be the qualities of us as a race, we missed the most important thing. Perseverance." It would appear that Mather's argument proved persuasive to the judges and he was awarded the history-making honor of providing the rover with its official name. Reflecting on his achievement, the young man mused that the craft "will help pave the way for a human presence there and I wanted to try and help in any way I could. Refusal of the challenge was not an option."
Described by NASA as a "a 2,300-pound robotic scientist that will search for signs of past microbial life" on the Red Planet, Perseverance is set to launch this coming July. By virtue of his victory in the essay contest, Mather and his family will be in attendance at the event. Following its departure from Earth, the Rover will make a long journey to the Red Planet that will hopefully culminate with a successful landing on Mars on February 21st, 2021, which gives us about a year to get used to saying (and spelling) Perseverance. For those keeping score at home, some of the other possible names which nearly made the cut were Clarity, Courage, Endurance, Fortitude, Ingenuity, Promise, Tenacity and Vision.