x
Breaking News
More () »

Meet Perseverance: The rover heading to Mars this summer

The robotic explorer is set to launch from Cape Canaveral this summer. After liftoff, it will take about eight months for Perseverance to get to Mars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars. Perseverance will land at the Red Planet's Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. EST (12:40 p.m. PST) on Feb. 18, 2021.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The search is over.

After more than 28,000 students submitted essays to name NASA’s Mars rover, the name Perseverance came out on top.

The winning name came from a seventh-grader from Virginia named Alexander Mather. In his winning essay, Mather said he wanted to be a NASA engineer when he grows up. Mather said in the essay he became interested in space exploration after he went to a Space Camp in Alabama back in 2018.

NASA said more than 770,000 votes were cast by the public before Perseverance was named the winner.

The robotic explorer is set to launch from Cape Canaveral this summer. After liftoff, it will take about eight months for Perseverance to get to Mars.

RELATED: See two Jupiter storms merge into one in rare photo

RELATED: NASA now taking astronaut applications for the Moon, Mars

What other people are reading right now:

FREE 10NEWS APP: 

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter

Before You Leave, Check This Out