Rockin 'n' rollin on Mars: Rolling Stones have space rock named after them

The Rolling Stones have rocked stages around the world in their more than 50-year career. But now their influence has gone into space after NASA's Mars InSight Mission named a rock on the planet after the band.

Slightly larger than a golf ball, the "Rolling Stones Rock" is said to have rolled some 3 feet (1 meter), spurred by the InSight spacecraft's thrusters during touchdown on Mars in November, NASA said.

"In images taken by InSight the next day, several divots in the orange-red soil can be seen trailing Rolling Stones Rock," it said. "It's the farthest NASA has seen a rock roll while landing a spacecraft on another planet."

Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr. announced the name as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts were about to perform on Thursday night at Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium, close to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Rolling Stones, known for hits such as "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Brown Sugar", called the honour "a milestone in our long and eventful history".

While the "Rolling Stones Rock" name is informal, it will feature on working maps of Mars, NASA said, but only the International Astronomical Union can give official scientific names for locations, asteroids and other objects in the solar system.

NASA is using its robotic mission to Mars to help set the stage for manned missions to the Red Planet. As a gateway to that lofty goal, the space agency's Artemis programme will send humans to the moon, to prepare them for further space exploration.

A giant leap for mankind — and the Rolling Stones, already immortalized in popular culture, are now also a part of space exploration history.