Beginning this fall, the U.S. space agency will be taking submissions from K-12 students of what they think the next explorer of the Red Planet should be named. NASA has partnered with Batelle Education, a nonprofit based in Ohio that provides STEM training, and Future Engineers, an ed tech company out of California, to create the contest.
Those who don’t meet the K-12 age requirement but are still interested in participating can sign up for the chance to be a judge of the submissions here. The contest is part of NASA’s efforts to get the public, particularly younger generations, interested and involved in the agency’s work.
“Contests like this present excellent opportunities to invite young students and educators to be a part of this journey to understand the possibilities for life beyond Earth and to advance new capabilities in exploration technology,” said George Tahu, Mars 2020 program executive in NASA’s Planetary Science Division.
