Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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A Matter of Curiosity
May 27, 2009 2:21 PM
Clara Ma -- or at least her imagination -- will begin a very long journey in 2011. She's the winner of a contest run by NASA to give a more poetic name to the Mars Science Laboratory, a 2,000-pound, $2 billion rover NASA plans to send to look for signs of habitability in the Martian soil.
Clara, a 12-year-old sixth grader from Lenexa, Kan., suggested the name "Curiosity." She won out over 9,000 over entrants.
Here's the essay she wrote, as posted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab:
"Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, 'Why is the sky blue?', 'Why do the stars twinkle?', 'Why am I me?', and I still do. I had so many questions, and America is the place where I want to find my answers. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder.
"Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much."
NASA, trying to make its missions more public-friendly, has run a bunch of similar contests. The 2004 Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were named by Sofi Collis of Arizona, who was nine at the time.
The one time a naming contest backfired was this spring, when Stephen Colbert playfully urged viewers to name Node 3 of the International Space Station after him. NASA trumped him -- "Tranquility," inspired by Apollo 11's landing site 40 years ago, seemed a touch more dignified -- but the node will contain the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill -- COLBERT for short.
May 27, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (6)
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Well said Clara. I actually have never heard of this mission. This is the first time. It ain't puppies Ned, but it's a good one.
Posted by: Lawrence | May 27, 2009 5:12:45 PM
Well said, Clara. Well said. :)
I didn't know the current rovers were named via these naming contests. I thought NASA had named them. Least the new rover will match the previous two rovers' names in spirit. :)
Posted by: GWP | May 29, 2009 8:07:01 AM
I had not heard of this mission either, but if it's half as successful as Sorjourner or Spirit/Opportunity, it will be one for the history books.
Good job on the name.
I just turned 51 (5/30/58) and I want to live long enough to see astronauts on Mars, so hurry it up NASA...lol.
Posted by: blackie | Jun 1, 2009 1:48:27 PM
I'm all in favor of sending robots to Mars, but I think we have a long way to go before we send astronauts there. It's too expensive right now. We need to focus on cheaper ways of getting into space. Launching the parts to assemble a manned mission to mars would absurdly expensive. Infrastructure investment for an elevator (The concept is legitimate. Look it up.) or a super canon would make future trips to the moon, mars, or even just for satellites and tourists relatively cheap.
Posted by: privatemale | Jun 7, 2009 6:13:28 PM
be advised that some of the major crashes and incidents related to
air and transit travel might be due to the dept. of energys new
technology research into high energy beams and cyclotron
research(livermore/geneva switzerland/chicago at chapaigne
illinois(fermilabs)as well as the HAARP project out of alaska. the
interference with the ions in the atmosphere affects super conductors
and wireing which in turn affects by cutting off input to computers
in rail transit and aircraft. four major accidents which are highly
suspicious in four months give clues. more will come!
I predicted over two years ago that planes would be falling from the
skies as the testing of those high energy projects were given the go
ahead. they have been as of this year,with the national ignition
facility project out of livermore and san franscisco,as well as the
new reactor collider at geneva which had an accident in sept-10 of
2008 and was just now brought up to speed. do the research and the
math yourselves and prepare the public and the traveler for what they
might be faceing. the national security issue and plausible
deniability is at play here. lives are at stake!
charles b
auburn,wa
Posted by: charles buchanan | Jun 23, 2009 9:51:08 PM
I have a piece of Mastadon tuck (the first piece found in tack to the point) the other half was donated to the Smithsonian Institute by Ray Marsh (Professor in Washington State University) sometime between the years of 1935 and 1955... I was wondering if this piece is of any value? To the Smithsonian or to anyone.. It is 8 1/4 long X 2 5/8 wide X 1 1/4 tall.. it is cut into a pen (or desktop pen) holder.
Posted by: tim cantwell | Jul 11, 2009 5:03:58 AM
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