NASA Wants To Send Your Name And Haiku To Mars
This article is more than 2 years old
Have them know that I’m watching
Big ole telescope
For those of you out there with something to say in the written form, particularly the three-line haiku written form, then your 17-syllable masterpiece could end up on Mars. No, not that Mars. The planet Mars.
As part of their upcoming Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft launching in November, NASA is encouraging anybody who is interested to submit their name and a haiku poem to be put on a DVD that will make the flight to Mars as a part of the MAVEN mission. This will be the first time anyone will attempt to explore Mars’ upper atmosphere.
“This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math,” said MAVEN’s principal investigator, Bruce Jakosky. “I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”
Yadda yadda yadda, am I right? We’re talking haikus here, Mr. Jakosky. While everyone who signs up will have their name put on the DVD, only three poems will be chosen as alphabetic ambassadors from these great lands. It’s all through a voting process, so if it turns into a popularity contest, don’t be surprised. Somebody is going to end up getting somebody famous to do it, just you wait and see. And I’ll probably vote for him whenever they do get Bill Murray to write a poem. Or, you know, whoever.
Go enter your submission. The deadline is July 1st, and the online voting will begin July 15th. For entering, you’ll get this nifty certificate like I did.
“The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission,” said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program.
Nary a television.
Why am I so bored?
