Mars rocks and riverbeds get their names? NASA explains (video)
Curiosity and Perseverance, two NASA Mars rovers, are exploring the undiscovered territory, therefore their mission crews must think of several names to include on the new maps they are creating riverbeds get their names.
Similar to what occurs on Earth, hundreds of notable geological features, such as craters, mountains, dry river beds, and hills, have been given names on Mars.
But scientists from NASA also assign names to a variety of smaller Martian occurrences, ranging in size from enormous rocks to minute pebbles. Why do Martian scientists give names to rocks when this is a highly unusual activity on Earth?
In a brand-new NASA film, geologist Tina Seeger from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) walks viewers through the procedure for naming the rocks on Mars, drill targets, and other places that the organization’s surface missions visit.
According to Seeger, a doctorate student and team member on the Curiosity and Perseverance rover missions, geologists on Mars use familiar names on a map to understand the terrain and communicate with one another about the rocks seen by the rovers. The two craters, dubbed Curiosity and Perseverance after places on Earth, are more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) distant from one another.
Examples of Martian names
The names given to things on Mars fall into two primary types. Others are given nicknames, while some are given formal names.
For instance, the Perseverance rover is presently examining rock outcrops adjacent to the rim of Belva Crater, a sizable impact crater inside the even larger Jezero Crater.
The town of Belva, West Virginia, has the name Belva in honor of a US lawyer and one of the first women to run for president of the United States, Belva Ann Lockwood. She is the source of the name Belva.
Curiosity, Perseverance’s more senior relative, has recently collected a sample of rock from a location called “Ubajara,” which bears the name of a Brazilian national park. Jezero and Bela both have given names, even though “Ubajara” is only a nickname.
The unofficial nicknames that the rover teams assigned to smaller objects like rocks, cliffs, and meteorites catch on.
Although this may appear random, Seeger claimed that it is an improvement over the previous method of naming.
How Does NASA Name Things on Mars
The 1990s saw the creation of ludicrous names like “Indiana Jones” and “Barnacle Bill” because names were made up as they went along.
In reference to NASA’s Pathfinder lander-rover mission, which arrived on Mars in 1997, she stated, “A rock looked like the face of Yogi Bear and gained the moniker Yogi Rock.
“But now we compile a list of names ahead of time based on different themes,” she added. “We draw a grid on the map where each square is a different quadrant that represents a different theme.”
While the Curiosity team has selected names from South America and Scotland, Perseverance’s handlers pick names from national parks around the world.
According to Seeger, the rock samples from Perseverance received names, one of which was “Bearwallow,” which later served as the name of a hiking trail in Shenandoah National Park.
“Bonanza King,” one of my favorite Curiosity targets, gets its name from the Bonanza King Rock formation close to Death Valley.
The geologist also emphasized a region that Perseverance traveled through that when seen from above, resembles a strip of bacon. As a result, it received the derisive moniker “Bacon Strip.”
And if given the chance, she has some ideas for the naming of a Martian rock.
“I spent seven summers as the Night Skies ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, so I’d probably pick something named after Mount Rainier or a place that’s special to me inside the park,” Seeger said in his conclusion. Fortunately, I was able to map the Jezero Crater sector of Mount Rainier. Therefore, if we drive through it, that wish might come true riverbeds get their names.