Have you ever dreamed of going on a space mission? Well NASA is now offering space fans the chance to send their name to the Moon aboard NASA’s first robotic Moon rover - VIPER.
VIPER (short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) will set out on a mission to explore areas that are permanently shadowed in the lunar South Pole and discover the secrets of the water on the Moon, according to NASA.
After the samples are gathered, technicians will use an electron beam to imprint names on a microchip the size of a dime that will be mounted on the rover.
VIPER will be the first rover to map out where water ice and other resources are found on the Moon as well as their concentration.
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NASA said in the future, these resources might be used to support human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.
This campaign joins other agency initiatives, such as Artemis I, multiple Mars spacecraft, and the agency's upcoming Europa Clipper mission, that have allowed tens of millions of people to send their names into space.
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NASA said in a release a personalized VIPER boarding pass can be created and downloaded by participants as a virtual memento of the event.
NASA created a hashtag (#SendYourName) to get participants to post about their excitement on social media.
For more information, visit NASA VIPER | Fly your name to the Moon.
