When NASA’s Perseverance rover safely landed on Mars’ surface inside Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, it carried something special: the names of almost 11 million individuals from all around the world.
Through NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign, people were invited to submit their names to be included on the mission. An incredible total of 10,932,295 names were received and are now stored on three small silicon chips aboard the Perseverance rover.
To write the names on the chips, NASA engineers used a special machine that can create incredibly tiny features, even smaller than a human hair. This machine is typically used for precise work in JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory.
Along with the names, the chips also contain the essays of 155 finalists from NASA’s “Name the Rover” contest. This includes the winning essay for the name “Perseverance” and the essay for the name “Ingenuity,” which was given to the experimental helicopter that traveled with the rover.
The chips and their contents are attached to a small plate on the back of the Perseverance rover. This plate can be seen by the rover’s cameras. The plate also features a special illustration that shows Earth and Mars connected by rays of the Sun, representing the shared source of light. Within the Sun’s rays, there is a hidden message in Morse code that says, “Explore As One.” This is a tribute to previous space missions like Pioneer and Voyager.
If you submitted your name for the Perseverance mission, you can retrieve a boarding pass to commemorate your participation. And if you missed out on this opportunity, don’t worry! You can still sign up to have your name included on future missions to Mars.
Including these names on the Perseverance mission is a symbolic representation of humanity’s collective spirit and curiosity, driving us to explore and discover new things on distant planets.
Click here to Send your Name to Mars
Note: this link redirect you mars.nasa.gov web page
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Fill your name ,Location , Postal code and mail ID
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click on send my name to mars button
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your pass will display here
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download and print it. you can embed it in your blog or web page.