N.W.T. Tourism capitalizes on Yellowknife's Mars fame
Spot where Curiosity rover landed named after N.W.T. capital
CBC News
Posted: Sep 1, 2012 2:39 PM CT
Last Updated: Sep 1, 2012 3:48 PM CT
Justin Maki, Mars Science Laboratory Imaging Scientist, JPL, left, and Jordan Evans Engineering Development and Operations Manager, MSL JPL, look at image sets from NASA's Curiosity rover and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)
Related
Related Stories
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
Northwest Territories Tourism has launched a new marketing campaign for Yellowknife based on its namesake on Mars.
NASA named the spot on Mars where the Curiosity rover landed Aug. 5 after the N.W.T. capital because it is the rover’s jumping off point to explore the planet’s ancient geology, just as Yellowknife is a similar gateway for scientists studying some of Earth’s oldest rocks.
Now N.W.T. Tourism has launched a photo contest asking people to submit photos of Yellowknifers visiting Mars’ Yellowknife or Martians visiting the territory's capital.
"Naming a location on Mars 'Yellowknife', we just see this as winning the lottery of media coverage,” said Brian Desjardins, executive director of N.W.T. Tourism.
“We knew we had to capitalize on this. The whole idea of submitting a photo of a Yellowknifer visiting Yellowknife on Mars or vice versa, we knew with just that idea that probably and most likely we'll get some pretty fun photos submitted."
Entries will be posted on the N.W.T. Tourism’s Facebook page and other social media sites.
The winners will receive a $100 VISA gift card.
Share Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- Yellowknife students launch helmet blitz
- Students from St. Patrick High School will be offering prizes and coupons Saturday afternoon to encourage the use of helmets by cyclists and skateboarders. more »
- Arsonist died in Iqaluit townhouse fire, say RCMP
- RCMP say a fire that killed two people at the Creekside Village in Iqaluit in 2012 was arson. more »
- Hockey Canada votes to ban bodychecking in peewee hockey
- Hockey Canada's board of directors voted to eliminate bodychecking from peewee-level hockey on Saturday in Charlottetown. more »
- Selling caribou meat online may hasten herds' decline: biologist
- Wildlife managers in Nunavut are worried the growing online market for caribou meat may put extra stress on some caribou populations. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Will Rob Ford's supporters leave Ford Nation?
- The growing controversy over a purported video alleging to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine may be testing the faith of even his most die-hard supporters. But experts say Ford's policies may trump whatever personal issues he's facing, and that his supporters may rally behind him. more »
- 3 more suspects arrested in slaying of U.K. soldier
- British police investigating the savage killing of an off-duty soldier in London have arrested three more suspects. more »
- Hockey Canada votes to ban bodychecking in peewee hockey
- Hockey Canada's board of directors voted to eliminate bodychecking from peewee-level hockey on Saturday in Charlottetown. more »
- Neil Macdonald: How serious is Obama about curbing the drone surge?
- In a key speech this week, the U.S. president set out a host of supposed new safeguards for America's controversial practice of remote-controlled rough justice. But as Neil Macdonald writes, the underlying rationale for drone use has not fundamentally changed. more »
- Ontario man lost in Australian mountains has survival skills
- The sister of an Ontario man who disappeared in Australia's Snowy Mountains nearly two weeks ago says she remains hopeful he will be found, partly because of his training as a Canadian Forces reservist. more »
- Japanese plane makes unscheduled landing in Whitehorse
- Japanese 747 waits for maintenance crew in Whitehorse
- Arsonist died in Iqaluit townhouse fire, say RCMP
- Selling caribou meat online may hasten herds' decline: biologist
- Kimmirut woman remembered at volleyball tournament
- Canada ranks 3rd last in paid vacations
- Boats collide, killing 77-year-old woman
- Police deem N.W.T. woman's death suspicious
- Nunavut government spends millions on overtime
