Last September, NASA asked kids across the United States to help them come up with a name for their new Mars rover. Well, ask and you shall receive! More than 28,000 K-12 students answered the call and came up with fantastic names and reasons why their names should be picked. From the help of thousands of volunteer judges, NASA was able to select 155 semifinalists. What were some of the names that made it to the semifinals?

Nithin Ramakrishnan of Aurora, Colorado, came up with the name METIS 2020 because “in Ancient Greece, Metis was a titan who was known for wisdom, crafts, and skill. Just like how the 2020 rover will give us more wisdom about Mars.” Mia Cybulski of Palos Hills, Illinois, thinks the rover should be named Wonder because “it expresses humans’ curiosity and fascination about Mars.” Violet Gerkin of Hampstead, Maryland, wants the rover to be named F.I.D.O. (Fearless Information Data Officer!) because “it will not give up and neither will NASA.”

From the 155 semifinalists, NASA has chosen nine finalists:

Endurance

Promise

Tenacity

Clarity

Perseverance

Vision

Courage

Ingenuity

Fortitude

Which name would you pick? We’ll know who won in March. We can’t wait!

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