The Magic of Spacecraft Names

As ships sail the seas or rockets launch into space, each mission’s name holds a special allure – but who decides what these powerful machines should be called?

Answering that question involves equal parts history, tradition and mythological symbolism. NASA has had a protocol in place since the early 1960s for naming missions and spacecrafts.

Mercury

Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system, orbiting around every 88 days and orbiting closer to Earth than any other planet – taking just 3.2 minutes for sunlight from the Sun to reach it from there.

Mercury lacks a thick atmosphere to absorb solar radiation and protect its surface, leading to impact craters like Caloris Basin (which could hold Texas) marring its landscape.

MESSENGER, the European-Japanese spacecraft currently orbiting Mercury, offers winners an amazing prize: they get to name five craters on Mercury after artists, writers or composers who have passed on for at least 50 years – winning applicants will also receive a plaque that features their namesake’s name on board the spacecraft itself!

Apollo

As 1958 came to a close, NASA began contemplating what name they would give their new program. While scientific exploration was its primary driver, NASA also wanted to beat rival USSR which had launched Sputnik I in 1957 and would soon launch humans into space.

Abe Silverstein, director of space flight development, suggested Apollo as an evocative name that would conjure images of grandeur and wonder. Apollo was an ancient Greek god responsible for music, poetry, oracles, art, herds/flocks/healing as well as carrying the sun across the sky each day in his golden chariot.

Project Gemini astronauts did not receive individual names for their spacecraft, though Gus Grissom, commander of the final Gemini mission, gave his craft its signature moniker after an honorary Titanic survivor and New York socialite named Molly Brown – after one who survived that fateful shipwreck and became known for her charitable works in her later life.

Voyager

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2–the two long-running spacecraft in history–have become iconic symbols of this effort. Launched only a few weeks apart in 1977, these twin probes continue their voyage today towards solar system’s outer edges beyond our heliosphere (an invisible layer of magnetic fields and charged particles that protects us from cosmic rays from beyond).

Both probes initially reached Jupiter and Saturn, where they discovered volcanoes on Io and studied Saturn’s rings before Voyager 1 set out for Uranus and Neptune.

Voyager 1 and 2 carry The Golden Record, an audio/visual collection designed to convey something about humanity to any alien life who might come across these craft in space. As works of art or enduring institutions do, Voyagers have taken on lives of their own–promising to outlive even their creators!

Mars Rovers

Kids have long given NASA’s Mars rovers unique personalities before the dawn of Twitter. Valerie Ambroise, 12, gave its Pathfinder Lander Sojourner its moniker after 19th Century Abolitionist Sojourner Truth; Spirit and Opportunity were named by school-aged students; Curiosity has been exploring Mars Gale Crater since 2012.

An international contest will name the Mars 2020 rover. From among 155 semifinalists, nine will vie to be its official name when it lands at Jezero Crater in February 2021 – one will even get free travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida to witness Perseverance’s launch! Designed to search for signs of past life while characterizing geology and climate on Mars as well as facilitate human exploration, Perseverance will enable searchers to characterize Perseverance’s launch from July.

International Space Station

The International Space Station, built by astronauts from different nations, is one of the world’s premier science labs in space and also serves as home for its crew members, who often stay aboard for extended stays.

Project Mercury astronauts began the tradition of naming their individual two-man capsules; this continued with Gemini and Apollo programs. For instance, Gus Grissom named his Liberty Bell 7 “Molly Brown,” but NASA did not approve this name.

NASA astronauts and cosmonauts travel to the International Space Station using SpaceX’s Dragon or Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft as part of its commercial crew initiative, whereby private companies provide flights directly to NASA so it can focus on developing larger and more sustainable spacecraft for Moon and Mars missions.