The Going to Mars campaign allowed members of the general public to participate in the mission and “go to Mars” with the MAVEN spacecraft in 2013.
The campaign had three parts; a bumper sticker art contest for students 5 to 17 years old, a “message to Mars” haiku contest for all ages, and a name entry form. Art and haiku contest entries were voted on by the public to determine winners.
All 377 art entries, haiku entries that received at least 2 votes (1,073 out of 12,530 total entries), and 96,899 valid names submitted to the site were written to an archival M-disc DVD and attached to the spacecraft. The winning art entry was used as a label for the DVD.
“The contest has resonated with people in ways that I never imagined,” MAVEN Education and Public Outreach leader Stephanie Renfrow said, according to a University of Colorado Boulder news release. “Both new and accomplished poets wrote poetry to reflect their views of Earth and Mars, to share their feelings about space exploration, to pay tribute to loved ones who have passed on and to make us laugh with their words.”
Top five Haiku by public vote:
It’s funny, they named
Mars after the God of War
Have a look at Earth
Benedict Smith, United Kingdom
Thirty-six million
miles of whispering welcome.
Mars, you called us home.
Vanna Bonta, USA
Stars in the blue sky
cheerfully observe the Earth
while we long for them
Luisa Santoro, Italy
distant red planet
the dreams of earth beings flow
we will someday roam
Greg Pruett, USA
Mars, your secret is
unknown for humanity
we want to know you.
Fanni Redenczki, Hungary
Full Record Details
Launch date:
Launch mission:
Launch provider:
Launch location:
Launching state:
Launch vehicle COSPAR id:
18 Nov 2013
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN)
NASA
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
USA
2013-063
Destination:
Host:
Host COSPAR id:
Mars
MAVEN
2013-063A
Return date:
Return vehicle:
Landing Location:
Return vehicle COSPAR id:
Current status:
In space
Project partners:
Title:
Artist:
Date:
Medium:
Dimensions:
Genre:
IAAA art style:
Collection:
COSPAR id:
Going to Mars
University of Colorado Boulder
2013
DVD
12 x 12 cm
Software
none
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