NASA’s first Mars helicopter has a name now and the credit goes to 17-year-old Indian-origin girl Vaneeza Rupani.
Rupani, a high school junior from Northport, Alabama, earned the honour of naming the helicopter after she submitted her essay into NASA’s “Name the Rover” contest.
Destined to become the first aircraft to attempt powered flight on another planet, NASA’s Mars Helicopter officially named: Ingenuity, as suggested by Rupani.
While NASA announced in March that its next rover would be named Perseverance based on seventh-grader Alexander Mather’s essay, the agency decided to also choose a name for the helicopter that will accompany the rover to Mars.
“Our Mars helicopter has a new name! Meet: Ingenuity. Student Vaneeza Rupani came up with the name during our name the rover contest. Ingenuity will ride to the Red Planet with @NASAPersevere to attempt the first powered flight on another world,” NASA tweeted.