The comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta will undertake a historical mission next month with an attempt to land the Philae lander on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta is set to release that robotic lander on Nov. 12 with a site known as "Site J" chosen as the touchdown site.
Many people think that the landing site's name is too generic or plain for such a historical event but here's some good news: ESA has decided to give the site a more fitting name.
Here's another thing, the opportunity to name the site isn't limited to astronomers and people in the scientific community. The European space agency is soliciting ideas for the landing site of the Rosetta mission.
On Thursday, Oct. 16, ESA announced it is holding a competition for the naming of the site where the Philae lander is set to touch down saying that the site deserves a much better name that can capture the significance of the first landing of a man-made instrument on a comet.
"ESA and its Rosetta mission partners are inviting you to suggest a name for the site where lander Philae will touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November," ESA announced. "The site, currently identified as Site J, deserves a meaningful and memorable name that captures the significance of the occasion."
The contest, which started on Oct. 16 and will end before midnight on Oct. 22, involves proposing any name other than a person's name for Site J, which should come along with up to 200-word description that explains why such name would be ideal for the location.
Only one entry is permitted per person and the proposed names will be evaluated by a jury consisting of members of the Philae Steering Committee, who will also choose the best entry.
The winning proposer will be announced on Nov. 3 via the Rosetta mission's main web page and official social media channels of ESA as well as the websites and social media channels of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), French Space Agency (CNES) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
The chosen name will be adopted by the ESA and mission partners when referring to the landing site in the future. As for the winning proposer, the person will have the chance to follow the landing of the Philae in person from the mission control center of the European space agency in Darmstadt, Germany on Nov. 12.
