The Mars 2020 Mission Explained

Regardless of how much you've learned about the 2020 Mars mission, your most burning question remains. Are they really going to keep that lame, uninspired name? The answer is a resounding "no." In fact, in its never-ending apparent quest to be adorable, NASA held a competition to rename the 2020 mission, inviting kids from all over the nation to submit their ideas for an adorable name to go with the adorable fact that they're having a contest that can only be entered by adorable children who won't complain about the lack of a cash prize. Some of the finalists from the pool of 28,000 entries: Endurance, Perseverance, Courage, and Promise. Aw.

Wait, though, if there were 28,000 kids entering this contest and there are 171,476 words in the English language and you rule out the words that most definitely wouldn't end up in a Mars Mission naming competition (like "garbage," and "the"), isn't it very, very likely that more than one kid came up with each one of those names independently of each other and aren't those kids who didn't get credit for coming up with the exact same name as some other kid going to be super upset at NASA? That's a great idea, guys, have a competition that makes little kids cry. Jeez.  

Anyway, if you're interested, Spaceflight Now says NASA will be announcing the new name in early March.

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