Uwingu Partners with Astronomers Without Borders in Mars Map Crater Naming Public Engagement

BOULDER, Colo. - March 26, 2014 - PRLog -- Space startup Uwingu announced today the donation of a Province name on its new map of Mars for Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), a global community of astronomy enthusiasts, educators, and others around the world interested in astronomy and the sky. The newly-named Province will be the basis for an AWB campaign encouraging its members to take part in Uwingu’s Mars Map Crater Naming Project at www.uwingu.com. Ten percent of the proceeds from new crater names within the Province will also be donated to AWB by Uwingu to support AWB’s outreach and education efforts.

The Mars Map Crater Naming Project was established by Uwingu to help create a $10M fund for Uwingu grants to support a wide range of new space projects with individual space researchers and educators hurt by budget cuts, as well as space companies and organizations like AWB. Uwingu previously announced a grant to AWB from proceeds of the project’s first two weeks of public engagement.

Uwingu’s Mars map grandfathers in all the already named craters on Mars, opening the remainder up for naming by people around the globe. Prices for naming craters vary, depending on the size of the crater, and begin at $5 dollars. Uwingu makes a shareable Web link and a naming certificate available to each crater namer for each newly named crater.

Mike Simmons, President of AWB remarked, “Astronomers Without Borders is delighted to expand our collaboration with Uwingu through this innovative program to engage space enthusiasts and the public in space exploration and education. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to become a stakeholder in space exploration. AWB will be organizing public programs related to Mars during Global Astronomy Month in April, especially at the time of Mars’ closest approach to Earth, in order to highlight the project.”

The neighborhood surrounding “Astronomers Without Borders” Province on Uwingu’s Mars map has many craters previously named for prominent astronomers such as Carl Sagan, Galileo Galilei, and Giovanni Cassini. All of the craters within the province itself are available for naming through the project, with a variety of crater sizes and pricing from $5 to $1000, allowing everyone to take part.

Dr. Alan Stern, the CEO of Uwingu added, “Astronomers Without Borders is a wonderful organization and we’re excited to create a win-win public engagement project with them, in crater naming on our Mars map, which will be carried to Mars by the 2018 Mars One robotic lander.

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About Astronomers Without Borders: Astronomers: Without Borders connects people worldwide through innovative programs that are accessible to everyone regardless of geography and culture. Combining local events with online technology and a global community, Astronomers Without borders is a leader in promoting understanding and peaceful international relations, while also supporting outreach and education in astronomy. For more information visit: www.astronomerswithoutborders.org.

About Uwingu: Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) was formed by a team of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. The company includes space historian and author Andrew Chaikin, space educator Dr. Emily CoBabe-Ammann, author and former museum science director Dr. David Grinspoon, planet hunter Dr. Geoff Marcy, planetary scientist and aerospace executive Dr. Teresa Segura, planetary scientist and former NASA science director Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and CEO of the Planetary Science Institute, Dr. Mark Sykes, and space artists Jon Lomberg and Dan Durda. In 2012, Uwingu successfully concluded one of the 25 largest Indiegogo crowd-funding campaigns ever to launch an ongoing series of public engagement projects. Visit Uwingu’s web site at www.uwingu.com to learn.

For more information contact Mike Simmons at mikes@astronomerswithoutborders.org and 818-597-0223 or Alan Stern at stern@uwingu.com and 970-281-SKY1.

Astronomers Without Borders Twitter @awb_org, Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders)

Follow Uwingu on Twitter at UwinguSky; and friend Uwingu on Facebook.