NASA Mars rover named ‘Perseverance’ following competition

NASA’s new Mars rover designed to bring samples back to Earth finally has an official name, courtesy of a year 7 student.

NASA’s next Mars rover finally has a name.

Perseverance, a six-wheeled robotic explorer, will blast off this summer to collect Martian samples for eventual return to Earth.

The name was suggested by Alex Mather, a Virginia seventh grader, as part of a naming contest for US schoolchildren. The US space agency announced it on Thursday at Alex’s school in Burke, Virginia, and he got to read his winning essay live on NASA TV.

The Perseverance rover will travel to Mars to collect samples that can be analysed back on Earth. Picture: J. Krohn / NASA

RELATED: Man dies trying to prove Earth is flat

“We are a species of explorers and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere,” Alex wrote. “We, not as a nation, but as humans, will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.”

NASA’s associate administrator for science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen, noted that the space agency’s Curiosity rover had been roaming around Mars since 2012 when Alex and his classmates were babies or little kids.

“Perseverance and curiosity together are what exploration is all about,” he said.

Nearly 4700 volunteer judges narrowed a pool of 28,000 contest entries down to 155 semi-finalists. Once it was down to nine finalists, the public was invited to vote online.

RELATED: First ever alien find in meteorite

Like previous rovers, Perseverance was named as part of a competition for schoolchildren. Picture: NASA / AFP

RELATED: Elon Musk’s plan to fix our crap internet

Alex and his family have won a trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch Perseverance launch into space.

The boy became enamoured with space at age 11 while attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. That’s when video games took a back seat. He said he wanted to become an engineer and work for NASA.

The rover is undergoing final preparations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. The nameplate will be on the rover’s robot arm and serve as a protective rock guard.