Trip Hanna, a fifth-grader at Hooksett Memorial School, has been selected as a semifinalist for the Mars 2020 “Name the Rover” contest. Trip’s name entered the next round of consideration to become the official name of the Mars 2020 rover.
Trip’s entry was selected as New Hampshire’s winner in the middle school category. The suggested name, Vision, and Trip’s essay is as follows:
“I think the name of the Mars 2020 rover should be Vision. The word vision means “the ability to see.” The Mars 2020 rover has 23 cameras, more than any previous rover. It even includes seven entry, descent, and landing cameras that will help NASA and mission control see the “Seven Minutes of Terror” from its entry into the Martian atmosphere to landing on the surface. These cameras will help us answer a lot of questions about what happens when a spacecraft lands on Mars. The word vision also means “the ability to think about or plan the future with wisdom and imagination.” One day, we want to put people on Mars, and that requires great effort and takes a lot of planning. To put people on Mars, NASA scientists must use wisdom and imagination. We need vision to believe that a Mars mission is possible.”
The Mars 2020 Rover has entered the final stages of preparation for launch. The currently unnamed Mars 2020 Rover is a robotic scientist weighing more than 2,300 pounds. It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet’s climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. The spacecraft is targeted for a July 2020 launch and is expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021.