The LASP-led MAVEN Going to Mars campaign has opened public voting on submissions to the message to Mars contest. Messages are in the form of three-line poems called haiku.
The public will select the top three haiku via open voting on an online interface. Winning haiku will be announced on the MAVEN website on August 8, 2013, and will travel to Mars aboard a special DVD adhered to the MAVEN spacecraft.
As part of the Going to Mars campaign, the MAVEN mission is also inviting people from all over the world to submit their names for inclusion on the DVD; names will be accepted through September 10, 2013.
MAVEN, which is slated to launch on November 18, 2013, is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.
To vote in the contest, or to submit your name, visit: http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars.
