Mars Rover, life hunter in Europe, needs a name

If geography smiles on you.

The British Space Agency has launched a public competition to name the ExoMars rover built in the UK, which is expected to be launched to the Red Planet during a fighter mission in 2020.

is a fascinating destination, a place where humans will one day work alongside robots to gain new knowledge and search for life in our solar system, "said European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake. Farnborough International Airshow in England, said in a statement from ESA. [Photos: Europe’s ExoMars Missions to Mars in Pictures]

"The ExoMars rover is a vital part of this journey of exploration, and we ask you to be part of this exciting mission and to name the rover that will explore the Martian surface," added Peake

. The contest is open only to residents of ESA Member States and "Associate Members". Thus, you are eligible if you live in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom

The competition will run until October 10th. The person who will submit the winning nickname (which hopefully will not be Rovey McRoverface) will make a tour of the Airbus facilities in Stevenage, England, where the ExoMars rover is being built.

For more information or to participate, visit the contest website.

The rover equipped with drillers and life hunter is the second phase of the two-part ExoMars program, led by ESA with Russia as a junior partner. The first phase consisted of a landing demonstrator called Schiaparelli and the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), launched together in March 2016.

Schiaparelli crashed on the Martian surface in October 2016, but TGO has has reached its desired orbit and has recently started sniffing methane and NASA plans to launch its own March 2020 rover. The March 2020 rover of the US space agency, among other tasks, will look for signs of ancient life on the planet red, promising cache samples for a possible return to Earth and test an instrument that generates oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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