In 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will fly past the most remote world ever explored by humankind!
Called ‘(486958) 2014 MU69’, the world is small, very cold, and sits at the outer frontier of our solar system.
Now, that’s a terrible name, right? So the US Space Agency is asking the public to help find a nickname that is easier to remember.
How do I submit a name?
- Read about the nicknames they’re already considering.
- Vote for your favourite names on the ballot (so far).
- Nominate names that you think we should add to the ballot.
- Check out the top-ranked names on the vote tally.
To be considered, the nickname shouldn’t be religious or political, or be a commercial name. So, sorry, but there won’t be a Fun Kids planet soon…
But hurry, because the closing date is December 1st 2017!
After the flyby, and once NASA knows a lot more about this world, they’ll be assigning a formal name to ‘MU69’.
However, this isn’t the first time the public has been asked to name important things…
In 2016, the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK asked people to suggest names for a new polar research ship.
‘Boaty McBoatface’ won, although the staff went for ‘David Attenborough’ instead and saved Boaty McBoatface for a smaller boat.
How about: Icy McIceface, or Worldy McWorldface?
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