Over 1,100 Haikus Selected for Trip to Mars Aboard MAVEN

In addition to the state-of-the-art equipment necessary for carrying out its mission, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission will carry with it more than 1,100 haikus on its journey to Mars.

The poems were selected from over 12,500 entries received from all parts of the world, including Palestine, Australia and Europe.

Scheduled to launch in November, the winning poems will be included on a DVD attached to the spacecraft along with artwork from a student contest and tens of thousands of names submitted by the public by September 10.

"The contest resonated with people in ways that I never imagined," said Stephanie Renfrow, MAVEN Education and Public Outreach leader and the Going to Mars campaign leader. "Both new and accomplished poets wrote poetry to reflect their views of Earth and Mars, to share their feelings about space exploration, to pay tribute to loved ones who have passed on and to make us laugh with their words."

The top five winners were:

It's funny, they named

Mars after the God of War

Have a look at Earth

- Benedict Smith, UK

Thirty-six million

miles of whispering welcome.

Mars, you called us home.

- Vanna Bonta, USA

Stars in the blue sky

cheerfully observe the Earth

while we long for them

- Luisa Santoro, Italy

distant red planet

the dreams of earth beings flow

we will someday roam

- Greg Pruett, USA

Mars, your secret is

unknown for humanity

we want to know you.

- Fanni Redenzcki, Hungary 

Constructed by Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., the spacecraft arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 2 at which point it was placed in a cleanroom in preparation for its November launch. MAVEN represents the first mission dedicated to surveying the upper atmosphere of Mars in hopes of uncovering data into how the loss of atmospheric gas to space influenced the planet's climate over the years.