The human race will always persevere into the future.” When Mather was asked as to what led him to choose the name, he explained that the Mars mission was just as much about humanity as it was about exploring the Red Planet.

How did rover get its name?

The second place prize winner was Deepti Rohatgi, 18, of Rockville, Maryland, who proposed naming the rover after Marie Curie, a Polish-born chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 1911 for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium.

Who named Mars rover?

Alex Mather beat out 28,000 other kids from across the U.S. in naming the Mars rover, which is set to land Thursday. News4's Derrick Ward talked with him about the process of finding the name and winning the competition. The rover due to set down on Mars Thursday got its name, Perseverance, from a student in Virginia.