Narrator: Welcome to “On a Mission,” a podcast of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But Sojourner was great because not only was it an inspirational historical figure, but it was also that connotation of movement, of motion, of travel. And so I think picking a name… you know, you could have picked “Integrity,” or you could’ve picked, like I said, “Gertrude,” right? There's a lot of names you could have picked that were reflective of inspirational people and things like that. And despite the fact that Sojourner was very small, and didn't have a large range, the reason we started building rovers after Sojourner is just that very reason - because even with that small experiment, we realized how powerful mobility was from a scientific perspective. ![]() You didn't have to just look at the things you could reach you could go somewhere else. That's what was different about the rover. Up until that point, everything that we had landed couldn't move. It's a memory that I have that I kind of cherish. No, this is never going to work.” And picking out “Sojourner.” And we thought it was such a great, wonderful name. And I remember that night, making piles, “Okay, well, this is a possibility. “Name it Gertrude, because my grandmother's name is Gertrude,” you know? ( laughs) And some of them were just fantastic and wonderful. These kids would write all kinds of stuff. And so, I remember going down to his house and sitting in his den with a number of other engineers and reading through the essays which had been submitted. And the head of the Planetary Society at the time was a guy by the name of Lou Friedman. It was being sponsored by the Planetary Society, which was based down in Pasadena. So they picked out a handful of us to read the essays. So somebody came up with the idea of having a contest and letting the kids write in to name the vehicle. Matt Wallace: It was originally just called the Mars micro-rover, which is good enough for engineers, but didn't really have much of a bang, I don't think, for the public. Matt Wallace, a JPL engineer on the rover team, helped select the winning essay. She spoke with such eloquence that she moved people with simple words and understandings.” Valerie added that the rover should be named Sojourner, because it was “on a journey to find truths about Mars.” Valerie Ambroise, a 12-year-old daughter of Haitian immigrants living in Connecticut, wrote in her contest essay, “I chose Sojourner because she was a heroine to Blacks, slaves, and women… she went on many journeys and told many truths. Narrator: The name for the rover came from a contest, in which students were asked to submit essays about a woman from history whose accomplishments could be relevant to the Martian environment. The entry, descent and landing about half an hour ago went exactly according to plan…The spacecraft is to release what’s known as the Sojourner rover.” On J– one hundred and seventy years to the day after Sojourner Truth officially gained her freedom, NASA landed its first rover on Mars.ĬNN announcer: “NASA scientists have reason to cheer the Mars Pathfinder has landed on the Red Planet. They’re about a journey inspired by a greater vision, an irresistible pull toward a meeting with destiny. This sentiment is echoed in a phrase used by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory: “The stars are calling, and we must go.” Although meant to call to mind John Muir’s, “The mountains are calling, and I must go,” all these statements express more than a mere desire to reach a destination. Sojourner Truth said she began her travels without any particular destination in mind, but headed east through Connecticut and on to Massachusetts because, “the Spirit calls me there, and I must go.” “Sojourner” means a traveler who depends on the goodwill of others. As she departed, she declared she was no longer Isabella, but “Sojourner Truth.” She soon became famous for her speeches against slavery, and for promoting women’s rights. ![]() She decided she needed to dedicate herself to a greater cause, to follow what she considered a path set by God, and so she packed a few things in a pillowcase and left her home in New York City. After she was freed, she’d joined a religious group that she thought shared her values, but they took her small savings, and even attempted to frame her for the murder of one of their members. There were the countless cruelties and indignities she’d suffered as a slave - including being sold at age 9 from the household that held her parents, as just one among a flock of sheep, and later having her own children taken from her to also be sold. ![]() Sixteen years later, Isabella Baumfree, who’d been enslaved since birth, considered the course her life had taken. Narrator: On July 4, 1827, the state of New York abolished slavery. ![]() Your browser does not support the audio element.
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