“NASA Invites Public to Send Their Names to the Moon on Robot Rover Mission to South Pole” – Science & Tech News
NASA is providing the public with the opportunity to have their name included in its next moon mission.
The VIPER, NASA’s initial robotic moon rover, is scheduled to land on unexplored areas of the moon’s south pole in late 2024. It will aim to uncover the mysteries of the moon’s water and analyze the environment for future astronaut landings. The rover, along with several scientific instruments, will carry the names of possibly millions of individuals who will also receive a souvenir boarding pass to be part of the journey.
“With VIPER, we are going to study and explore parts of the moon’s surface no one has ever been to before,” stated Nicola Fox, an associate administrator at NASA headquarters in Washington.
To have your name included, it must be submitted by the end of 15 March 2024. The method of attaching the names to the rover has not been specified, but similar missions have utilized electron beams to stencil names onto silicon chips.
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Daniel Andrews, VIPER’s project manager, described the rover as a “game-changer”.
“It’s the first mission of its kind, expanding our understanding of where lunar resources could be harvested to support a long-term human presence on the moon,” he said.
Once VIPER – short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – lands on the moon, it will rely on its solar panels and batteries for its roughly 100-day mission. It will need to endure extreme temperatures and challenging lighting conditions while operating a suite of instruments to gather data about lunar ice and potential resources. Developed under its Artemis programme, the rover will also survey the environment for planned landings of the first woman and person of color on the moon. Submissions for the VIPER mission “boarding passes” can be made on NASA’s website.
