Do you want to write your name in the history of space conquest? NASA can make your dream come true. On the occasion of its VIPER mission, scheduled to launch at the end of the year, the American agency is offering to send your first and last name… to the Moon.
For this, nothing could be simpler. All you have to do is fill out a short form on NASA’s website by March 15. The names collected will be loaded aboard the rover (space vehicle, editor’s note) that will explore the south pole of the Moon at the end of 2024, NASA indicates in a statement, without specifying whether the surnames will be recorded on a physical medium. or downloaded into a memory placed on the lunar ship.
Exploration of the lunar south pole
The VIPER rover is tasked with exploring “the rugged terrain of the lunar South Pole and collecting valuable data that will help us better understand the history of the Moon and the environment to which we plan to send the Artemis astronauts,” specifies NASA, which plans send astronauts to set foot on the lunar surface in 2025, the first time since 1972.
The mission is scheduled to last 100 days. “VIPER will rely on its solar panels and batteries” to “survive extreme temperatures and harsh lighting conditions, while powering a series of scientific instruments designed to collect data on the characteristics and concentrations of lunar ice,” details the space agency. US.
The VIPER mission targets Mons Mouton, a plateau-shaped geological formation that dominates the surrounding surface at 6,000 m. The name of this relief pays tribute to the African-American mathematician Melba Roy Mouton (1925-1990), says the Cité de l’Espace of Toulouse.
NASA periodically offers to symbolically associate astronomy enthusiasts with its missions. As part of the launch scheduled for 2024 of its Clipper satellite, intended for the exploration of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, the agency will integrate into the machine an electronic chip that contains hundreds of names of earthlings.
Source: BFM TV
