Who is Alexander Mather?
Christopher Pierce
Updated on February 28, 2026
Perseverance was named by Alexander Mather, a seventh grader at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County. Mather, 13, penned the winning entry to NASA’s “Name the Rover” essay contest last year, beating out 28,000 entries from K-12 students across the U.S.
How old is Alexander Mather?
13-year-old
NASA’s next Mars rover has a new name. Alexander Mather, a 13-year-old student from Virginia submitted the winning name and explains why he chose the name of NASA’s next robotic scientist to visit the Red Planet.
Who named Mars rover Perseverance?
Alex Mather beat out 28,000 other kids from across the U.S. in naming the Mars rover, which is set to land Thursday. News4’s Derrick Ward talked with him about the process of finding the name and winning the competition. The rover due to set down on Mars Thursday got its name, Perseverance, from a student in Virginia.
Why did Alexander Mather name the rover Perseverance?
The human race will always persevere into the future.” When Mather was asked as to what led him to choose the name, he explained that the Mars mission was just as much about humanity as it was about exploring the Red Planet.
Who named Mars?
ancient Romans
Mars was named by the ancient Romans for their god of war because its reddish color was reminiscent of blood.
Did the names get sent to Mars?
NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign invited people around the globe to submit their names to ride along on the rover. And people did – with a grand total of 10,932,295 names submitted….Nearly 11 Million Names of Earthlings are on Mars Perseverance.
| Chip size | Each of the three chips is the size of a fingernail. |
|---|---|
| Locations participating | See maps of world and U.S. participation. |
Where did Perseverance get its name?
The Nasa robot that recently landed on Mars to search for signs of life is called Perseverance. It joins another rover named after a scientific virtue, Curiosity, which has been trundling around on the red planet since 2012.
Who named the planet Jupiter?
The Romans
The Romans named the planet after their king of gods, Jupiter, who was also the god of the sky and of thunder. Why choose to name the planet Jupiter? It was the largest object in the sky; therefore the most powerful; therefore Jupiter.
Who gave name ingenuity?
Ingenuity, the first helicopter to fly on Mars was carried by NASA’s rover called Perseverance that was launched in July last year and will help collect samples from the surface from locations where the rover cannot reach. The helicopter got its name because of a high school student Vaneeza Rupani of Alabama.
