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                      MAVEN Mission Seeks Poems for Space

   by Matthew Hilburn

   Are you a poet and a space geek?
   If so, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is
   offering a unique chance to send your poem all the way to Mars aboard
   the [1]Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft that
   will be launched in November.
   Poems should be in the form of a haiku, and the deadline for
   submissions is July 1. Through an online public vote, the top three
   will be selected and burned onto a DVD, which will be placed aboard
   MAVEN. Anyone who sends in a submission will also have their name
   burned onto the DVD. Voting will begin July 15.
   Participants who submit their poems to the Going to Mars campaign will
   be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their
   involvement with the MAVEN mission.
   "This is really supposed to give the public an opportunity to have a
   connection to the mission and the planet," said Stephanie Renfrow, lead
   for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at Colorado at
   Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP). "It's
   not so much about sending a message to the universe."
   According to Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from CU/LASP,
   the idea is to reach "the next generation of explorers and excite them
   about science, technology, engineering and math."
   MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding
   the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will orbit Mars and
   investigate how the loss of Mars' atmosphere to space determined the
   history of water on the planet's surface. The initial mission is slated
   to last a year, but could be extended.
   To participate in the Going to Mars campaign click [2]here.
   Here's a video on MAVEN's mission:
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   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/send-your-poems-to-space-maven/165345
   0.html

References

   1. http://www.nasa.gov/maven
   2. http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/send-your-poems-to-space-maven/1653450.html