General Stuff Options

[remcook]

here's a new space.com article about msl

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/te...lab_050105.html

[elakdawalla]

I have long had suspicions that the (in my mind) more obvious choices were not taken in part because of the fear that at least one of the rovers would fail upon landing. Imagine having a Wilbur with no Orville -- worse, an Orville that was horribly dead upon arrival while Wilbur trucked on. That would have been pretty sad. But I'll never know whether that was part of their reasoning or not.

--Emily

[Bill Harris]

Oppy and Spirit are a part of our history now. However, I do get a bit waggish and wish for "Marvin and Daffy"...

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Which of the Wright brothers was it who crashed and killed his passenger, thus creating the very first airplane fatality?

[jamescanvin]

Orville

[PhilHorzempa]

I know that my suggestion was dull and boring (Mars Prospector), but I have
yet to see any other suggestions from the UMSF community for a name
for the MSL. Let's see something inspiring.


Another Phil

[Jeff7]

The public really, really gets into naming contests -- and they are a great way to build up public awareness of a mission before it has launched. We were involved in the contests for Spirit/Opportunity, Sojourner, and Magellan (as well as the asteroids Bonestell, Nereus, and Braille). More info here.

And let's not forget the first shuttle built - Enterprise, at the request of the public.

[djellison]

a name
for the MSL.

'MSL' is fine. Pathfinder was Pathfinder, Global Surveyor was Global Surveyor, and if there had been only one MER, I wouldn't have been suprised to see it called MER.

Doug

[tedstryk]

Ren and Stimpy might have been good....

[dvandorn]

If it weren't for the fact that the namesakes are still alive, I would have considered "Neil" and "Buzz" for the MERs.

-the other Doug

[elakdawalla]

All right, I can't resist anymore; I have to haul out my list of "My favorite 'Name the Rovers' entries that didn't quite make the cut." Doug has seen this list already. It was my responsibility to take all the Name the Rovers entries, and weed out the -- ahem -- inappropriate ones before sending them on to the judges. I hated to see some of these go, though. I'm attaching a file containing the two proposed names, the age of the student who submitted the name; and, best of all, the essays. Other data has been deleted to protect the innocent . Here are a few of my favorites....download the file for the full list (some of which I feel I can't print here). Enjoy! --Emily

Crash and Lander
Age 13
It's self explanatory! Good Luck on this mission.

Sadaam and Osama
Age 14
Hopefully by the time that these two rovers will grt to Mars, we will have found and killed Sadam Husein and Osama Bin Laden. Once we kill them, we can say their spirits will travel to these rovers and they can do all the dirty work as their punishment.

Taco and Chalupa
Age 13
I think that the Rovers should be given these names for numerous reasons. For one thing, Taco and Chalupa are perhaps the coolest words ever. The other main reason is that Mexicans have never gone to space and would probably love to have the Rovers named after something they created. It would also make me very happy, because Taco is my favorite word, and I use it instead of "hello". Thank you for your time,

WEDIDNTLANDONTHEMOON and NASAISFAKE
Age 13
THE REASON THAT I FEAL THES WAYY IS THAT THESE ARE VERY GOOD NAMES. THEY REFLECT A HISTORY OF LIEING BY NASA. AS ALL PEOPLLE NO, NASA HAS NEVER GONE INTO SPACE. THERE IS NO "SPACE". NASA JUST FUNDS COLUMBIAS DRUG TRADE. AND SICE THESE WILL BE THE NAMES FOR SOME GUYS DOGS AND NOT SPACE ROVERS, THIS IS WAT THEY SHOUDL BE NAMED.

Star Retriever and Klingon Imperial Arizona Research Cruiser
Age 14
They are a part of history. They are two names that people young and old enjoy! A retriever is a machine that gets and resarches something! The Klingon Imperial part is because I love Star Wars and Star Trek! And so do many others. Many generations were grown up on Star Trek and Lego's. I believe that the people of our time have grown up and need something that will help them remember! That is why I put at the end: Arizona. In memory of the Pearl Harbor TORA. that means ATTACK! So we need to remember our past and move through our future with the: Star Retriever and Arizona Klingon Imperial Research Cruiser! This will be a breaking point from Depression to Boom Cycle. From the "Reagan Cycle!"

Attached File(s)

 rover_names_that_didn_t_quite_make_it.xls ( 39K ) Number of downloads: 711

 

[djellison]

I was hoping you'd post that list, I've regularly opened it up for a serious laugh - makes you proud of our youth eh

Doug

[Bill Harris]

The "didn't quites" are priceless. And the fourth one in the message text is quite self-explanatory...

--Bill

[Phil Stooke]

I didn't care for "Spirit and Opportunity" when I first heard them, but I'm used to them now. I think we are probably lucky they didn't become "Freedom and Democracy" or some such... OK, I'm stopping now.

Phil

[tedstryk]

I wonder if anyone picked Beavis and Butthead?

[djellison]

I'd wager there were at least a dozen of each of the following..

Beavis and Butthead
Wallace and Grommit
Tom and Jerry
etc etc.....


Doug