NASA calls Mars 2020 rover ‘Perseverance’

NASA has announced the name of its rover that will land on Mars next year. Out of 28,000 entries, Perseverance was chosen. The launch should take place in July of this year.

Perseverance is the successor to Curiosity, which has been exploring the surface of Mars since 2012. Previous names of Mars rovers were Sojourner from 1997 and Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on the planet in 2004. In all cases, the names came from a contest organized by NASA.

This time there were 28,000 submissions from students. A team of 4,700 volunteers reduced that number to first 155 and then 9. That selection, which featured names like Endurance, Promise and Courage, was up for vote. That round yielded 770,000 votes, from which Perseverance emerged as the winner.

Among other things, the rover will conduct research into microbial life as well as climatic and atmospheric conditions that could affect future astronauts. Perseverance will collect soil samples on Mars, which will be returned to Earth for further analysis on a later Mars Sample Return mission. It contains a drill to take samples from the ground and place them in tubes, which can be left in a cache. Perseverance also includes 23 cameras for its reconnaissance work.

The launch of Perseverance should take place sometime in July or August. Then Mars and Earth are in favorable positions relative to each other, in order to reach the planet with as little energy as possible.

Update, Monday 9 March: NASA has made a titanium nameplate for the rover that attaches to the robotic arm and then immediately protects against rocks and other potential damage. The name of the winner is Alexander Mather by the way.