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K-12 Education
.1 min read

NASA Essay Contest Winner: Naming Curiosity Mars Rover 'Changed My Life'

Oct. 22, 2019
Side-by-side images of Clara Ma, wearing braces, in 2009 posing for a picture in front of a Curiosity rover model and Ma in 2019 posing for a photo in Europe
Clara Ma, winner of the contest to name NASA's Curiosity rover, in 2009 with an engineering model of the rover (left) and as a graduate student in 2019 (right).
Credit: Left: NASA/JPL-Caltech (left); right: Clara Ma

Students have just over one week more to enterNASA’s Name the Rover Essay Contest. While they put the finishing touches on their essays (due Nov. 1, 2019), meet the most recent naming contest winner, Clara Ma. Find out what Ma is up to more than 10 years after submitting her winning name for the Mars rover now known as Curiosity and why she says the experience changed her life.

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About the Author

Kim Orr

Content Strategist & Editor, NASA JPL Education

Kim Orr leads content strategy for the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her work includes editing, writing, and design for the JPL Education website, social media channels, newsletter, and other digital communications platforms.