Vaneeza Rupani Names NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity: 8 Things To Know

 Vaneeza Rupani Ingenuity: Meet Vaneeza Rupani, a person of Indian-origin, who is currently making headlines for naming the Mars Helicopter by NASA, Ingenuity.

The 17-year-old Vaneeza Rupani entered the contest launched by NASA for naming their helicopter titled, "Name The Rover". Rupani suggested the name 'Ingenuity' and also gave a description of why the history-making rover should be named so.

What a view.

Alex Mather, the 7th grader who named our rover "Perseverance" and Vaneeza Rupani, the 11th grader who named our Mars Helicopter "Ingenuity," are ready to watch the launch of the vehicles they named. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/CeHehJOfE7

— NASA (@NASA) July 30, 2020

Here's what we know about the Indian-origin girl Vaneeza Rupani:

• Vaneeza Rupani is an 11-grader at the Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.
• Rupani was interested in space sciences and related studies since her Montessori years.
• She found the "Name The Rover" contest in the newspaper and decided to participate.
• Her essay for naming the Mars Rover was chosen among the 28,000 essays submitted to NASA by K-12 students.
• Rupani explained in an interview that Ingenuity was the apt name for the helicopter as it is what took to design it. She added that "The challenges faced trying to design something capable of flight on another planet can only be overcome with collaboration and creativity. It takes the ingenuity of an incredible group of people to create something with so many complex challenges."
• Vaneeza Rupani's mother said that Vaneeza was fascinated by space and the science of engineering. Sharing an incident from her childhood, Rupani's mother said that Vaneeza would pretend to be in a spacecraft while going to school with her father in a car.
• NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke about choosing the name Ingenuity for the Mars Helicopter and said, "Ingenuity encapsulates the values that our helicopter tech demo will showcase for everyone when it takes off next year as the first aircraft on another planet’s surface."
• Along with Rupani, another student's essay and suggestion about naming the Mars Rover as Perseverance was taken into consideration. This came from a seventh-grader Alexander Mather. Ingenuity and Perseverance started their journey to the red planet on July 30. The two would take seven months to reach Mars.