Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Storyland Will Sparkle for All Visitors With $1 Million City of Fresno Grant

16 hours ago

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s Bat-Biting Frontman, Dies at 76, BBC Reports

21 hours ago

What’s Fresno County Worth? Property Tax Roll Grows by Billions of Dollars

23 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Help Locating Missing Woman and Infant

23 hours ago

Maddy Institute Fundraiser to Highlight Central Valley’s Impact at State Capitol

23 hours ago

No Aid Supplies Left and Staff Are Starving in Gaza, Says Norwegian Refugee Council

1 day ago

US Justice Dept. Asks Epstein Associate Maxwell to Speak to Prosecutors

1 day ago

Trump’s Golden Dome Looks for Alternatives to Musk’s SpaceX

1 day ago

Fresno Unified’s Free Immunization Clinics for Students Start in August

1 day ago
Rolling Stones Get Name on Martian Rock That Rolled
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
August 23, 2019

Share

PASADENA — There is now a “Rolling Stones Rock” on Mars, and it’s giving Mick, Keith and the boys some serious satisfaction.
NASA named a little stone for the legendary rockers after its InSight robotic lander captured it rolling across the surface of Mars last year, and the new moniker was made public at Thursday night’s Rolling Stones’ concert at the Rose Bowl.

“NASA has given us something we have always dreamed of, our very own rock on Mars. I can’t believe it. I want to bring it back and put it on our mantelpiece.” — Mick Jagger
“NASA has given us something we have always dreamed of, our very own rock on Mars. I can’t believe it,” Mick Jagger told the crowd after grooving through a rendition of “Tumbling Dice.” ”I want to bring it back and put it on our mantelpiece.”
Robert Downey Jr. announced the name, taking the stage just before the band’s set at the Southern California stadium that is just a stone’s throw from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages InSight.
“Cross-pollinating science and a legendary rock band is always a good thing,” the “Iron Man” actor said backstage.
He told the crowd that JPL scientists had come up with the name “in a fit of fandom and clever association.”

The Farthest NASA Has Seen a Rock Roll

“Charlie, Ronnie, Keith and Mick — they were in no way opposed to the notion,” Downey said, “but in typical egalitarian fashion, they suggested I assist in procuring 60,000 votes to make it official, so that’s my mission.”
He led the audience in a shout of “aye” before declaring the deed done.
Jagger later said, “I want to say a special thanks to our favorite action man Robert Downey Jr. That was a very nice intro he gave.”
The rock, just a little bigger than a golf ball, was moved by InSight’s own thrusters as the robotic lander touched down on Mars on Nov. 26.
It only moved about 3 feet, but that’s the farthest NASA has seen a rock roll while landing a craft on another planet.
“I’ve seen a lot of Mars rocks over my career,” Matt Golombek, a JPL geologist who has helped NASA land all its Mars missions since 1997, said in a statement. “This one probably won’t be in a lot of scientific papers, but it’s definitely one of the coolest.”

Poking Fun at His Advanced Years

The Rolling Stones and NASA logos were shown side by side in the run-up to the show as the sun set over the Rose Bowl, leaving many fans perplexed as to what the connection was before it was announced.
The concert had originally been scheduled for spring, before the Stones postponed their No Filter North American tour because Jagger had heart surgery.
The 76-year-old showed no signs of poor health or even his age as he danced, pranced and boogied up and down a long catwalk that extended to the middle of the stadium’s field.
He did poke fun at his advanced years.
“It’s great to be back at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena,” Jagger said. “At least I think we’ve been here before.” (They have, in 1994.)
He also said, “We walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard looking for the Rolling Stones star but couldn’t find it.” (The band doesn’t have one.)
And he took a dig at President Donald Trump’s recent talk of acquiring Greenland when introducing his bandmates.
“On the drums,” Jagger shouted, “Greenland’s new economic adviser, Charlie Watts!”

Photo of logos for The Rolling Stones and NASA displayed onstage before their concert at the Rose Bowl
The logos for the band The Rolling Stones and NASA are displayed side-by-side on video monitors onstage before the Rolling Stones’ concert at the Rose Bowl, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019, in Pasadena, Calif. Actor Robert Downey Jr. announced from the stage before the show that NASA has officially named a rock spotted rolling across the surface of Mars by its InSight lander “Rolling Stones Rock.” (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Announces Trade Deal With Japan, Including 15% Tariff

DON'T MISS

Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another

DON'T MISS

Visalia DUI Operation Nets 17 Arrests Over Weekend

DON'T MISS

Storyland Will Sparkle for All Visitors With $1 Million City of Fresno Grant

DON'T MISS

Former Madera Charter School Executive Charged With Embezzling Federal Funds

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Doesn’t Respond to Public Records Requests. Is District Hiding Something?

DON'T MISS

US Appeals Court Will Not Lift Limits on Associated Press Access to White House

DON'T MISS

Feds Award $93 Million to Key San Joaquin River Salmon Restoration Project

DON'T MISS

With Backing From Dyer, Ashjian Reinstated to Measure C Panel

DON'T MISS

Fresno Shooting Leaves One Dead, Authorities Looking for Witnesses

UP NEXT

‘Cosby Show’ Star Malcolm-Jamal Warner Dies at 54, Media Reports Say

UP NEXT

Stephen Colbert’s Late-Night Show on CBS to End in May 2026

UP NEXT

Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated ’60s Pop Music, Dies at 87

UP NEXT

Open Mic Contest Offers Fans a Chance to Perform at Outside Lands 2025

UP NEXT

Age Is Just a Number: 80-Year-Old Conquers Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Ultramarathon

UP NEXT

MANÁ to Rock Fresno with Newly Added Tour Stop at Save Mart Center

UP NEXT

PBS and NPR Mount Last-Ditch Fight to Save Federal Funding

UP NEXT

Sick of Loud Ads on Netflix? A Proposed California Law Turns Down the Volume

UP NEXT

US Singer Chris Brown Pleads Not Guilty to Lesser Assault Charge in UK Court

UP NEXT

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Be Sentenced on October 3

State Department Investigating Harvard’s Participation in Exchange Visitor Program

35 minutes ago

Israeli Strike Kills Hungry Gaza Family in Their Sleep

44 minutes ago

US Existing Home Sales Fall More Than Expected in June

48 minutes ago

Trump Strikes Tariff Deal With Japan, Auto Stocks Surge

50 minutes ago

Trump Admin Releases After-School Grant Money, but There’s a Catch

1 hour ago

A Pro-Trump Community Reckons With Losing a Beloved Immigrant Neighbor

1 hour ago

Trump Announces Trade Deal With Japan, Including 15% Tariff

16 hours ago

Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another

16 hours ago

Visalia DUI Operation Nets 17 Arrests Over Weekend

16 hours ago

Storyland Will Sparkle for All Visitors With $1 Million City of Fresno Grant

16 hours ago

In Landmark Opinion, World Court Says Countries Must Address Climate Change Threat

THE HAGUE – The United Nations’ highest court on Wednesday said countries must address the “urgent and existential threat&...

7 minutes ago

The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the northern rim as seen from Grandeur Point on the southern rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S. July 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
7 minutes ago

In Landmark Opinion, World Court Says Countries Must Address Climate Change Threat

AI Artificial intelligence words, miniature of robot and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken December 21, 2023. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
16 minutes ago

White House Unveils Artificial Intelligence Policy Plan

A doctor checks Jana Ayad, a malnourished Palestinian girl, as she receives treatment at the International Medical Corps field hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip, June 22, 2024. (Reuters File)
31 minutes ago

WHO Sees ‘Deadly’ Surge in Malnutrition in Gaza. 21 Children Under Five Killed in 2025

Students gather on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., May 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
35 minutes ago

State Department Investigating Harvard’s Participation in Exchange Visitor Program

Debris lies at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Gaza City, July 23, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)
44 minutes ago

Israeli Strike Kills Hungry Gaza Family in Their Sleep

A "For Sale" sign stands at a house in Miami, Florida, U.S. April 16, 2025. (Reuters File)
48 minutes ago

US Existing Home Sales Fall More Than Expected in June

People react as they read a special edition of Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reporting the tariff deal agreement between U.S and Japan, in Tokyo, Japan, July 23, 2025. (Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
50 minutes ago

Trump Strikes Tariff Deal With Japan, Auto Stocks Surge

Students at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Diego
1 hour ago

Trump Admin Releases After-School Grant Money, but There’s a Catch

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend