NC students among semi-finalists to name NASA's new Mars rover

Three North Carolina students were selected as semi-finalists in a contest to name the Mars 2020 rover vying for the grand prize trip to the Kennedy Space Center for them and their family for the July 2020 launch.

Savita Oldham of Apex suggested 'Determination.' Duha Khan of Morrisville chose 'Pyassa.' Ankit Biswas of Waxhaw selected 'Emergence.'  

Each has earned a Mars prize pack from Future Engineers, a NASA partner sponsoring the contest, and Amazon. Entries were judged on originality and significance of the name and a brief essay describing their choice.

Oldham’s essay described the many jobs the rover will have in determining “if there is or was life on Mars” and “if you can make Oxygen from the Martian atmosphere.” She also noted the determination of scientists and engineers behind the program.

Khan submitted 'Pyassa', which means 'thirst' in Urdu, describing the rover’s search for water on Mars as well as its mission to gather data that helps “quench our thirst for knowledge about the unknown on our neighbor planet.”

Biswas’ essay focused on role the mission will have in building on discoveries by previous rovers Spirit Opportunity and Curiosity. “Emergence, the paramount breakthrough. The discovery of a molecular coincidence that is more than the sum of its parts and allowed life itself to exist… maybe even on other planets.”

Nine finalists will be the subject of a public poll opening in late January. They will also interview with Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, astronaut Jessica Watkins, NASA/JPL rover driver Nick Wiltsie and Clara Ma.

Ma, then a sixth-grader, proposed 'Curiosity' as the name for the Mars Science Laboratory. She went on to earn an internship at JPL. Now a climate scientist, she graduated from Yale with degrees in geology and geophysics as well Political Science. She is now studying public policy at Cambridge.

Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif are preparing the unnamed rover for transport to Florida ahead of a July launch. The more than 2,300 pound robotic scientist will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth to pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.