THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For decades, the joke has been that Neil Armstrong was beaten to the moon by a Malayali tea vendor. But when humanity sets foot on Mars, landforms named after places in the state will be waiting for them, notes Sovi Vidyadharan, of The New Indian Express.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has, in a first, approved names of Kerala localities — Valiamala, Thumba, Bekal, Varkala and Periyar — as well as of noted geologist M S Krishnan, to identify various craters on the red planet.

Kerala-based researchers Prof Rajesh V J from the department of earth and space sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, and Asif Iqbal Kakkassery, a former IIST research scholar who is currently the assistant geology professor at Government College in Kasaragod had jointly submitted the proposal.

The research at IIST on an unnamed crater in the Xanthe Terra region of Mars had identified signs of ancient glacial processes and fluvial activity.

Krishnan’s name was proposed for a 3.5-billion-year-old crater located in a region where evidence of ancient glaciation was scientifically established. The team also proposed several Kerala-based names for nearby Martian landforms.

“Although many names were initially rejected due to pronunciation and compliance issues related to IAU naming conventions, persistent documentation and review ultimately resulted in the approval of the names, including Valiamala, the home of IIST,” Rajesh said. IAU guidelines say large, significant Martian craters may be named after late scientists who made significant contributions to planetary science.

Krishnan Crater, Periyar Vallis also okayed

Smaller craters may be named after towns or villages, provided they are easy to pronounce and have historical or cultural relevance, according to the IAU guidelines.

“The plain inside Krishnan Crater has been officially named Krishnan Palus, and a channel cutting across it has been named Periyar Vallis,” Rajesh said. Following the naming of Krishnan Crater, the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature also approved four nearby small craters: Valiamala, Thumba, Varkala, and Bekal. Last year, three Martian craters were named after renowned Indian cosmic ray physicist Devendra Lal and the towns of Mursan (UP) and Hilsa (Bihar). These were situated in the planet’s Tharsis volcanic region.