Mick Jagger’s Message to NASA About ‘Rolling Stones Rock’ on Mars

The Rolling Stones took the stage at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Aug. 22, 2019, after actor Robert Downey Jr. announced to the crowd that a rock on Mars had been named for the band. Frontman Mick Jagger made these remarks about NASA and the rock during the concert that night in Pasadena, California, roughly three miles away from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

InSight’s retrorockets sent "Rolling Stones Rock" rolling about 3 feet (1 meter) as the spacecraft touched down on Mars on Nov. 26, 2018. It's the farthest NASA has seen a rock roll after landing a spacecraft on another planet. A little larger than a golf ball, the rock is about 2.2 inches (5.5 centimeters) in diameter and 1 inch (2.4 centimeters) in height. A series of divots marked its course after being set in motion by the landing.

JPL, a division of Caltech, manages InSight for NASA.

For more information about "Rolling Stones Rock," visit https://go.nasa.gov/MarsRocks

Transcript

[audience cheering]

Thank you. It's great to be back in the Rose Bowl. I think we've been here before. Seem to vaguely remember this and I want to say a special thanks to our favorite action man, Robert Downey, Jr. [audience cheering] That was a very nice intro guys. And NASA has given us something we've always dreamed of, our own rock on Mars. I can't believe it. I want to bring it back and put it on our mantle piece. Now's it time we're gonna do a request, so we've put some songs up for you vote for and songs like "Can You Hear the Music," "There's No Smoke Without Fire." I kinda remember that one. "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena." Anyway, these four we put up and the one that won tonight was...