NASA invites the public to send their name on the next Europa Clipper mission, which must explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, in October 2024. We explain how to participate.
As part of a campaign called “Message in a Bottle”, participants can have their name engraved on microchips next to a poem titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa”, composed by American Poet Laureate Ada Limón. These microchips will serve as a message in a bottleand will embark on a journey of billions of miles as the space probe investigates the potential for life beneath Europa’s icy surface.
To participate, those interested can visit the website https://go.nasa.gov/MessageInABottle, where they can register, read the poem and watch an animated video of Ada Limón reciting her work. The site also offers a downloadable souvenir. It’s about a image of participants’ names on a message in a bottle with Europa and Jupiter in the background. Entrants are also encouraged to share their excitement on social media using the hashtag #SendYourName.
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You can now send your name to Jupiter
The “Message in a Bottle” initiative continues in the tradition of previous NASA projects, including those associated with the Artemis I mission and various Martian spacecraft, where millions of people have submitted their names. This campaign aims to engage and inspire people around the world, like Voyager’s famous golden record that carried sounds and images representing Earth’s diversity.
The Europa Clipper mission, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, is currently being assembled and should be launched from Cape Canaveral, in Florida. During its journey, the spacecraft will cover an impressive distance of 2.6 billion kilometers to reach the Jupiter system, where it is expected to arrive in 2030. During its mission, the probe will orbit Jupiter and make around 50 flybys of Europa, collecting essential data on its underground ocean, its icy crust and its atmosphere.
