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Make a name for yourself on Mars
By Richard Stenger
(CNN) -- The young and young at heart can take part in Mars exploration, whether by naming two red planet rovers or sending their names along with them. The Planetary Society and NASA have teamed up to sponsor a contest for students to name two rovers expected to launch in the summer of 2003. The competition is open to children between the ages of 5 and 18 in kindergarten to the 12th grade in U.S. schools. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2003. "We are eagerly looking for some really creative and innovative ideas from the students as they compete to name the next Mars rovers and become part of history," said Dave Lavery of NASA's Solar System Exploration Program. Entries must include recommended names for both mobile probes. Students can use names from mythology, fiction or history, but not from trademarked items, living persons or previous NASA missions. The competitors must include a written composition between 50 and 500 words to explain why their proposals should be selected. "In order to succeed, students must not only select excellent names, but also justify and argue for those names in their essays," said Bruce Betts of the Planetary Society. The Planetary Society, a private organization dedicated to space exploration, has helped name several asteroids and previous NASA missions. In an earlier student contest, for instance, then 12-year-old Valerie Ambroise came up with Sojourner, the name of the rover that visited Mars with the Pathfinder lander in 1997. For people of all ages, NASA is gathering names to send to Mars. Just sign up on the Internet and yours will be placed on a DVD disk that will land with one of the rovers. "Everyone on Earth who has ever dreamed of being an explorer on an alien planet will want to go along for the ride," Ed Weiler, deputy NASA administrator, said in a statement. More than 3 million names have been collected. But hurry! The deadline is midnight ET, November 15. NASA plans to launch the Mars rovers in late May and early June. They should arrive at different landing spots within weeks of each other in January 2004. The $800 million mission will search for past or present evidence of water and perhaps life on the red planet. Each will be able to explore 100 meters of terrain a day, nearly as much territory as Sojourner covered in three months.
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