Craters on Mars Named After Three South Dakota Towns
Back on November 26, 2011, Nasa launched the Curiosity rover to the planet mars and less than a year later it landed on the red planet. Since then it has been sending back data on the climate, geology, and the role of water.
The rover has been on the planet for over 1,600 days and scientist have been naming locations and creators on the alien planet after towns on planet earth.
According to bangordailynews.com, as part of the guidelines from the International Astronomical Union (IAU), when it comes to naming things on other planets, only town or city names with fewer than 100,000 people can be used.
So far only 3 craters on Mars have been named after towns in South Dakota. Those towns are:
- Platte, SD - Approval date: 1988
- Oglala, SD - Approval date: 1976
- Faith, SD - Approval date: 1976
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