NASA just announced a contest for students to name the Mars Science Laboratory rover that is scheduled for launch in 2009. In cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ movie WALL·E, NASA is inviting students ages 5 to 18 who attend school in the United States to submit essays explaining the reasoning behind their suggested name for this car-sized rover. Essays must be turned in by January 25, 2009, and NASA will announce the winning name in April 2009. The grand-prize winner will receive a trip to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where she will get to sign her name on the actual rover that will be launched.

It sounds like an awesome contest, and it’s not the first time NASA has let a student name a Mars rover. A third grade student from Arizona named the Spirit and Opportunity rovers that landed on Mars in January 2004.

The main contest page has a video suggesting what kinds of things to think about when coming up with a name. Might I offer up taking some inspiration from the Disney movie that’s sponsoring this content? WALL·E is a fun name, but it’s also an acronym (“Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class,” according to the film). Incorporating an acronym could lead to a pretty cool and creative name, but that’s just my idea. Too bad I’m not 18.