NASA will allow students to name the next Mars 2020 rover

NASA has announced a new contest to engage students in, this contest will allow for students from public, private and home schools to name the Mars 2020 rover.

The premise of this contest is to encourage students into joining the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The contest is called 'Name the Rover' and will require students to write an essay and submit it to NASA for evaluation. Whoever is deemed the winner of this contest will be able to name the rover and also be invited to see the spacecraft launch in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talked about the contest and said "This naming contest is a wonderful opportunity for our nation's youth to get involved with NASA's Moon to Mars mission. It is an exciting way to engage with a rover that will likely serve as the first leg of a Mars Sample return campaign, collecting and caching core samples from the Martian surface for scientists here on Earth to study for the first time."

If you don't know what the Mars rover is, it's a 2300-pound robotic scientist that will be conducting experiments and signs of life on Mars' surface. The rover will determine the planets geology, climate as well as collect samples for future testing once they are returned back to Earth.