On July 30th, NASA launched the carrier rocket Atlas V as a part of the Mars 2020 mission. The rocket is carrying the Perseverance rover whose goal, among other things, is to explore the Red Planet to find an evidence of possible life in the past. As most of the NASA projects, the latest mission to Mars has its own logo created in cooperation with the New York-based design agency House of van Schneider.
The name for the Mars rover was chosen by a vote from school students, and should reflect steadfast endeavors in explorations of Mars and outer space. Perseverance, or simply Percy, was constructed on the technical base of NASA’s previous Mars rover Curiosity that landed on the planet exactly eight years ago. Percy’s Mars landing is expected to take place in February 2021.
And it’s Perseverance that was taken as the main feature for the Mars 2020 emblem. The logo, that was depicted on a side of Atlas V, represents an abstract blocky figure composed of five squares and symbolizing the space vehicle with a four-pointed star inside a red circle. It is complemented with a wordmark similar in style to the NASA worm logo. According to House of Schneider, this logotype conveys the energy and heritage of space travel, and also honors the engineering team who untiringly worked on this Mars mission.
Overall, the logo showcases simple yet expressive design, while offering a range of motifs and geometrical figures. In this combination, we can see futuristic ideas and a reflection of the NASA traditions.
