All,
I searched this site and found no previous query, and messaged JPL with no reply. So, is there any system in the naming of rocks that are selected for study by Opportunity and Spirit? And the geographical features? Some are obvious; eg Columbia Hills. Burns Cliffs may refer to someone in NASA? Some such as WopMay have been explained on the site, but Tetl? Palenque? Lutefisk? just to quote the current crop.

Is it the guy on duty that day who gets to choose a name? If so, how about offering rocks for naming; highest bid gets to choose a name, proceeds to charity?

What would you choose?

John

Most of the rocks and formations are named after rock formations on Earth. I do think it's a matter of who comes up with a good name first.

__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

I seem to remember some of the rocks in the earlier Sojourner mission being given names like "Scooby Doo" and "Space Ghost", but I don't know how official those names are.

The names are probably explained in press releases.

Only thing I remember is that craters in Spirit landing site are named after ancient lakes of North America (Bonneville etc.) and after exploration ships in Opportunity landing site (Eagle, Fram, Endurance).

So far as I know, none of the names of small features near the landing sites are official. They're just a convenience so that the scientists don't have to keep saying "that big rock there."

__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

This link explains some of the names.

KN,
Thank you!
I'd never been able to fnd that page on names. It seems that our supicions were right - it is a conspiracy to give rocks the first name that comes into someone's mind, though some of the choices have been serendipitous - Larry's Leap!

Now there's a name - if I get to name a rock on Mars , it'll be "Serendip"!
John