Later this year, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) is scheduled to launch on an exploratory and scientific mission for NASA, with support by the University of Colorado Boulder. As part of the spacecraft’s mission, it will act as the first spacecraft to focus primarily on the state of the upper atmosphere, the processes that control it, and the overall atmospheric loss that is currently occurring. Also, it will bring three Earth-born haikus with it to Mars, so that’s cool too.
Officially starting on May 1, the public outreach group working with MAVEN launched a campaign for people to submit their names and original haikus to ride along with the spacecraft on its journey to the red planet. While NASA astronaut training is difficult, submission policies to hitch a ride on MAVEN (vicariously through a haiku) are easy. You’re eligible to enter the contest if you’re A.) a human living on Earth, B.) at least 18 years old, and C.) you can write in English.
All haikus will be voted on by the public, and the top three most popular entries win a seat onboard the MAVEN spacecraft. Also, the MAVEN website will post the poems on it for all of us Earthlings to see.
The timeline for this spacey, poetic contest is as follows:
- May 1: Activity opens
- July 1: Activity closes
- July 15: Public voting begins on messages
- July 29: Public voting ends on messages
- August 8: Message contest winner announced!
- November 18: MAVEN launch period open
You have just under two months to submit your 17-syllable poem. There’s nothing in the rules though that says you can’t post your poem elsewhere first, so let’s see what you have in the comments section.
Why?
It’s not nice to see
NASA has nothing to do
But send Mars haikus