Red Planet Registry: How Daet and Five Other Philippine Towns Made It to Mars

While the world remembers the historic landing of the Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, many are surprised to learn that the Philippine flag was effectively "planted" on the Red Planet decades ago—not by astronauts, but through the official maps of the solar system.

Among the rugged ridges and dusty plains of Mars lies the Daet Crater, a permanent celestial tribute to the capital town of Camarines Norte.

The Rules of Cosmic Naming

The naming of Martian landmarks isn't arbitrary. According to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (maintained by the IAU and USGS), there is a specific hierarchy for naming impact craters:

Large Craters (>60 km): Named after deceased scientists, writers, and visionaries who contributed to the study of Mars or planetary science.

Small Craters (<60 km): Named after towns and villages from around the world that have populations of less than 100,000 at the time of naming.

Spotlight: The Daet Crater

Officially christened in 1976, the Daet Crater is an impact site located at coordinates 7.4°S 41.8°W. While it may not be the landing site for a rover like Perseverance, its existence serves as a bridge between the Bicol region and the frontiers of space exploration.

The "Filipino Six" on Mars

Daet isn't alone in the Martian highlands. The International Astronomical Union has recognized a total of six Philippine towns, immortalizing them in the Martian landscape:

Daet | Camarines Norte | 1976

Bacolor | Pampanga | 2006

Camiling | Tarlac | 1976

Naic | Cavite | 1976

Taytay | Palawan | 2006

Solano | Nueva Vizcaya | 1991

A Legacy Beyond Earth

The naming convention used by the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) was not necessarily intended as a direct commemoration of these specific municipalities, but rather to ensure the Martian map reflects the diversity of Earth's human geography.

As NASA’s Perseverance continues to hunt for signs of ancient life in Jezero, the residents of Daet and these five other Philippine towns can look up at the night sky knowing their names are already etched into the history of another world.