Instructify

The most recent mission to Mars included a lovable little robot fella named Phoenix, who dug up Martian soil samples, who won our hearts with his twitters, and who trundled adorably around on top of towering piles of garbage, and, um, wait, I guess I’m thinking of Wall-E. But wait! So is NASA! They’ve partnered with Disney on a contest for K-12 kids to Name NASA’s Next Mars Rover.

Contestants must be American school kids, and they must submit their entry essay by January 25, 2009. Kids who don’t enter (or who aren’t American) can still vote on the submitted names by worldwide public poll in March 2009, and winners will be announced in April. There’ll be nine winners, who will receive Wall-E prizes and/or the opportunity to sign the actual Mars Rover before it actually goes to actual Mars. Now that’s cute. –AMANDA FRENCH

Name the Rover

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