NORTHPORT, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school student has named NASA’s first Mars Helicopter that will be deployed to the red planet later this summer.
NASA said Wednesday that Ingenuity, the name submitted by Vaneeza Rupani, was selected for the 4-pound solar-powered helicopter.
The space agency says Ingenuity was chosen from among 28,000 names submitted during NASA’s “Name the Rover” essay contest for K-12 students across the United States.
A NASA administrator says Ingenuity encapsulates the values that the helicopter will showcase when it eventually takes flight over the surface of Mars. The helicopter will be attached to the rover's belly inside a rocket that leaves for Mars in July or August.
