NASA Wants Your Haikus

On November 13, 2013, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN mission will blast off for the upper atmosphere of Mars. Once there, it’ll make measurements of the atmosphere and ionosphere that will help scientists find clues about the Red Planet’s climatological history.

To help spur public support and interest for the mission, the University of Colorado at Boulder has established the Going to Mars project, which encourages ordinary people to participate in contests to have their own creations added to a DVD that’ll be stowed on the spacecraft.

And you can participate! Just write your own message to Mars in haiku form (remember, that’s a line of five syllables, a line of seven syllables, and a line of five syllables) and submit it here by July 1st. On July 15th, the public starts voting on the best entries. The three winners will have their haikus sent to space! Even if you don’t win, your name goes on the DVD that’s sent over to Mars.

Here’s one I just wrote:

The face that’s on Mars
Is a mirage, but someday
Real ones will arrive

Another contest is just wrapping up, but you still have four days to vote on the winner. The Student Art Contest invited students aged 5-17 to submit their own artwork to go up to space. There are some pretty stellar (and adorable) designs — go vote!

Are you writing a haiku? Include it in the comments below!

Story via NPR