NASA Uses Perseverance Mars Rover Mission to Honor Navajo Language

NASA Is Naming New Landmarks Discovered by Mars Rover in the Navajo Language

By Arnesia Young on March 18, 2021

Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Navajo Nation

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (“Tséyi’” in Navajo) in Arizona is located on Navajo Nation land. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Since its landing on the surface of Mars in mid-February, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been diligently documenting every detail and sending more than 7,000 images back to Earth. A common activity undertaken by surface missions is to assign nicknames to the various landmarks discovered by the rover; this provides the mission team with a common vocabulary with which to discuss their findings. The team for the Mars 2020 mission is working in conjunction with the Navajo Nation to name the various features and geological landmarks discovered on the Red Planet’s surface with words from the Navajo language.

Before the Perseverance rover launch, the team divided Jezero Crater—the landing site of the rover—into several quads, each about one square mile in size. Every area is named after national parks and other places on Earth with similar geological features. The place where Perseverance first touched down was in a quad named after Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument—called Tséyi’ in Navajo—which lies in the heart of the Navajo Nation.

Working with a Navajo engineer named Aaron Yazzie on the Perseverance team, the mission was able to acquire the Navajo Nation’s permission to collaborate. Compiling a list of over 50 Navajo words to start with, they will continue to work with the Navajo Nation as the rover explores more of the planet’s surface. The current list includes words like tsé łichíí, meaning red rock; hahóóts’aa’, which means crater; séítah, which translates to amongst the sand; and yéigo, the Navajo word for diligence. The first focus of the mission is a rock discovered by the rover, which they subsequently named Máaz—the Navajo word for Mars.

“The partnership that the Nez-Lizer Administration has built with NASA will help to revitalize our Navajo language,” says Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez. “We hope that having our language used in the Perseverance mission will inspire more of our young Navajo people to understand the importance and the significance of learning our language. Our words were used to help win World War II, and now we are helping to navigate and learn more about the planet Mars.”

To keep up with the Perseverance Mars Rover, follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter. Visit NASA’s website for more in-depth information about the Mars 2020 mission.

NASA is working in conjunction with the Navajo Nation to name features discovered on Mars (by the Perseverance rover) in the Navajo language.

This rock, called “Máaz” (the Navajo word for “Mars”), is the first feature of scientific interest to be studied by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A Rock Called Yéigo or Dilligent in Navajo Language

Combining two images, this mosaic shows a close-up view of the rock target named Yéigo, or “Yeehgo,” from the SuperCam instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ASU/MSSS)