NASA’s New Mars Helicopter Now Has An Ingenious Name Given By A 17-Year-Old
Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA now has a name for its miniature aircraft planned for collecting samples on Mars.
The Mars helicopter is called Ingenuity, coined by 17-year-old Vaneeza Rupani, who entered the name in NASA’s Name the Rover contest among 28,000 essays submitted by K-12 students in the US.
“The ingenuity and brilliance of people working hard to overcome the challenges of interplanetary travel are what allow us all to experience the wonders of space exploration,” Rupani wrote in her essay, per NASA’s news release.
“Ingenuity is what allows people to accomplish amazing things, and it allows us to expand our horizons to the edges of the universe,” she detailed.
Ingenuity will accompany NASA’s rover to Mars. The rover itself has been named Perseverance, the winning moniker based on seventh-grader Alexander Mather’s essay.
Rupani has been interested in space science ever since she was a young child, according to her mother, Nausheen Rupani. She would always pretend to be in a spaceship and give names to everyday things after planets and stars.
She told NASA that, “Ingenuity would be a good name for the helicopter because that is exactly what it took to design this machine.”
“The helicopter is an incredible project, and I am thrilled to have a part in its journey,” Rupani added.
Ingenuity is scheduled for launch this July, and will hopefully allow future missions to “add an aerial dimension to their explorations,” NASA said.
NASA's Mars Helicopter has received a new name: Ingenuity. This technology demonstration will ride to Mars attached to the @NASAPersevere rover. Learn more, and meet Vaneeza Rupani, the student who came up with the new name: https://t.co/XTTQzpxwZx pic.twitter.com/9aKZGWrprr
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) April 29, 2020
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity, which is now strapped to the bottom of #Mars2020 rover Perseverance.
— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) April 29, 2020
Ingenuity will deploy in May 2021 after Perseverance lands and aims to be the first aircraft to fly on another planet. pic.twitter.com/uxCBQ8Ut2q
News | Q&A with the Student Who Named Ingenuity, NASA's Mars Helicopter 🚀🛰📡🔭🌠💫🚁🇺🇸 https://t.co/jRTpWuCyIk
— HERVE (@HERVE73950491) April 30, 2020
[via CNN, opening image via NASA/JPL-Caltech]
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