• Mission: First trip to the heart of Mars
  • Amartizaje.'InSight 'is already on the red planet

The Rolling Stones can say that their fame has reached another planet. A stone from Mars has been informally christened by NASA with the name of the legendary rock band and will appear on the work maps of the red planet.

The stone, slightly larger than a golf ball ( measuring 5.5 cm in diameter and 2.4 cm in height ), was photographed by the InSight robotic ship, which is studying the interior of the red planet and recording for the first time the earthquakes that take place there.

As NASA explained in a statement, when the spacecraft blasted on November 26, its thrusters made the stone roll a meter across the Martian surface. Taking advantage of the pun ( rolling means rolling and stone , stone), the researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the space agency came up with the name of the group consisting of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts. "The name 'Rolling Stones Rock' is perfect," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Division of Planetary Science in Washington.

The Rolling Stones with actor Robert Downey Jr, who made the announcement

The announcement was made on August 22 by actor Robert Downey Jr. during a concert held at the Rose Bowl Pasadena Stadium, near JPL, the NASA center from which robotic exploration missions such as InSight are headed.

The four components of the band have been delighted with this space tribute: "This is definitely a milestone in our long and memorable history. Many thanks to everyone at NASA for making it possible," they said.

It is common for scientists who work with these ships to baptize rocks, craters and other geographical elements with unofficial names, although the task of assigning official scientific names corresponds to the International Astronomical Union , which is also responsible for the nomenclature of comets, asteroids and new celestial bodies discovered.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Science and Health
  • science

Pollution Plastic falling from the sky: tiny particles are found even in the Arctic snow

Activism The young Greta Thunberg begins her sailing trip to cross the Atlantic

Climate Last July was the hottest month on the planet since there are records