Poetry and student art heading for Mars

Expected to launch to Mars in November, the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) spacecraft

will explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. Scientists will use MAVEN data to determine the role that loss of volatile compounds, such as CO2, N2, and H2O, from the Mars atmosphere to space has played over time, giving insight into the history of Mars atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.

The spacecraft will also carry a DVD with over 1100 haiku poems selected in the outreach contest Going to Mars. Here the five Contest winners, which received more than 1000 votes in the public voting:

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
Idaho, USA

Mars, your secret is unknown for humanity we want to know you.

Fanni Redenczki
Hungary

Alan Boyle reports on the contest at MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We’re green with envy – NBC News.com.

Find more space poetry resources here, including an epic poem about Mars settlement.

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Also on the DVD will be digital images of student art selected in the Going to Mars student art contest:

Young people from all over the world submitted 377 unique entries into the Going to Mars student art contest! The contest ran from May 15 to April 8 and was followed by online public voting to determine the First and Second Place winners. The total number of votes on all entries was nearly 82,000!

As a special recognition of the inspiring artwork we received, we are pleased to announce that all 377 entries will be included as digital files on the DVD that will fly to Mars onboard the MAVEN spacecraft!