GRAND ISLE, La. — A Grande Isle student is among nine finalists who submitted names for a NASA contest to find a fitting name for the Mars 2020 rover.
Tori Gray was one of more than 28,000 essays submitted to NASA's "Name the Rover" contest which asked students from kindergarten through 12th grade to submit names and short essays.
Gray submitted the name "Courage." Other names include Endurance, Tenacity, Promise, Perseverance, Vision, Clarity, Ingenuity and Fortitude.
"The Rover will face many hardships and challenges towards its journey to the Red Planet, including the exploration of the red surface," Gray wrote. "It will be the personification of Courage as it treks along the barren, rocky planet in the search of past habitable conditions and the potentiality of life on Mars..."
Now everyone has a chance to vote for their favorite from the nine finalists through Jan. 27 at 11 p.m. CST. To vote, visit go.nasa.gov/name2020.
The contest ends in early March. The grand prize winner will be invited to see the spacecraft launch in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The currently unnamed rover will search for signs of microbial life on Mars, characterize the planet's climate and geology and collect samples for future return to Earth. It is expected to land on Mars in 2021.
"Thousands of students have shared their ideas for a name that will do our rover and the team proud," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division. "Now it is the public's opportunity to become involved and express their excitement for their favorites of the final nine."
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
