The European Space Agency (ESA) and its Rosetta mission partners are inviting people to suggest a name for the site where Philae will touch down on Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 12.
The site, which is currently identified as Site J, will be the first soft landing of a human-made object on a comet ever, so a memorable name that captures the significance of the occasion is needed.
The rules are simple, any name can be proposed, but it can't be the name of a person. The name must also be accompanied by a description, up to 200 words, explaining why the name should be selected for the location.
Full rules, terms and conditions can be found here.
A jury comprising members of the Philae Steering Committee will select the best name from the entries.
The person with the winning entry will be invited to follow the landing in person from ESA's mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany next month.
The competition opened today and will run until Oct. 22. The winner will then be announced on Nov. 3 on the main Rosetta webpage, through ESA's social media channels, and on the German, French and Italian space agency (DLR, CNES and ASI) web pages and social media channels.
Entries from all competitions will be considered together, with one winner selected to attend the landing in Darmstadt.
The competition is being run by the ESA, DLR, CNES and ASI.
Comet 67P is made of two lobes joined by a narrow neck. Its silhouette resembles that of a rubber duck, according to Reuters.
"Everything we've discovered at 67P/C-G so far says that we've chosen a fantastic comet to visit," said Dr. Christopher Carr, a principal investigator on the Rosetta Plasma Consortium instruments, according to BBC News. "There's a genuine sense of excitement within the Rosetta community, and we're all looking forward to the year ahead."
Rosetta is equipped with 11 cameras and sensors that have already taken astonishing images of the comet. Experts are hoping for even bigger discoveries from the 10 instruments aboard Philae, according to AFP.
The ESA had five spots to pick from, according to the Associated Press.
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