NASA has named a rolling stone on Mars after the Rolling Stones, with Robert Downey Jr. making the announcement during the band's concert Thursday
“Rolling Stones Rock” was unveiled during the Stones’ concert in Pasadena, California Thursday night, with Robert Downey, Jr. on hand to make the announcement. As the actor explained, the name came after a team of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory noticed that a small rock, just a bit larger than a golf ball, had been propelled about three feet by the thrusters of the Mars InSight lander as it touched down last November.
In a statement, the Rolling Stones said of the honor, “What a wonderful way to celebrate the ‘Stones No Filter’ tour arriving in Pasadena. This is definitely a milestone in our long and eventful history. A huge thank you to everyone at NASA for making it happen.” As longtime JPL geologist Matt Golombek noted, “Rolling Stones Rock” probably “won’t be in a lot of scientific papers,” but it will serve an important function as NASA studies the landscape of Mars. Official names for places and objects throughout the solar system are chosen by the International Astronomical Union, but NASA scientists have long come up with unofficial nicknames for rocks and other geological features to make their work easier.
As for the actual Rolling Stones, the band has two more shows left on their “No Filter” tour, August 26th in Glendale, Arizona and August 31st in Miami, Florida.
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