--- title: Naming of Mars Rover Prompts Boaty McBoatface Jokes description: In the post-Boaty McBoatface era, apparently no Internet naming competition is safe from those hoping to recreate the iconic viral prank. canonical: https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-20T17:09:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:57.806Z og:title: Boaty McBoatface Naming Debacle Haunts the 2020 Mars Rover og:description: No Internet naming competition is safe og:url: https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3493 og:image:height: 1965 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boaty McBoatface Naming Debacle Haunts the 2020 Mars Rover twitter:description: No Internet naming competition is safe twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Boaty McBoatface Naming Debacle Is Coming Back to Haunt the 2020 Mars Rover > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9fcdce8d-f449-42c2-b3d8-ad703d144591&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 20, 2018 5:09 PM UTC  A computer-generated image of the Natural Environment Research Council's new polar research ship A computer-generated image of the Natural Environment Research Council's new polar research ship AFP/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 20, 2018 5:09 PM UTC In the [post-Boaty McBoatface era](http://time.com/4836095/boaty-mcboatface-submarine-voyage-david-attenborough/), apparently no [Internet naming competition](http://time.com/4266219/boaty-mcboatface-naming-vote/) is safe from those hoping to recreate the [iconic viral prank](http://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/). After the U.K. Space Agency opened a contest to name its next Mars rover—which is set to launch in August 2020—Twitter users predictably began chiming in with the Boaty McBoatface-inspired suggestion of Rovy McRoverface. For those unfamiliar with the Boaty McBoatface debacle, the hilarious moniker was the name chosen for a $287 million polar research ship after an online poll created by the U.K.’s National Environment Research Council (NERC) spiraled out of control in 2016. However, the astronaut spearheading the mars rover campaign, Tim Peake, has found a way to ensure the spacecraft gets a bit more appropriate name. Instead of being subject to the Internet’s will, all suggestions entered on [this website](https://events.airbus.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=200179103&) will be presented to an expert panel for consideration. See some of the Boaty McBoatface jokes below. > [](https://twitter.com/steverumsby/status/1020310484917112833) > [](https://twitter.com/A%5FMEdwardz/status/1020281364342628353) > [](https://twitter.com/TheAndyMaturin/status/1020275314520461312) > [](https://twitter.com/BlatentLie/status/1020275776451764224) > [](https://twitter.com/simmo68/status/1020253982000852992) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/"},"headline":"The Boaty McBoatface Naming Debacle Is Coming Back to Haunt the 2020 Mars Rover","datePublished":"2018-07-20T17:09:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:57.806Z","description":"No Internet naming competition is safe","url":"https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT","caption":"BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5344247/mars-2020-rover-name-contest/","name":"The Boaty McBoatface Naming Debacle Is Coming Back to Haunt the 2020 Mars Rover"}}]}] ```