NASA's next Mars mission - the MAVEN orbiter. Credit: NASA/LASP
If you want to be outbound and onboard NASA’s next mission to Mars – better hurry.
NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.
The DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft.
Liftoff of MAVEN is November, but July 1st is the cutoff for name submittal.
The DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP).
The DVD will carry every name submitted.
Haiku’s sent heavenly too
The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected.
The deadline for all haiku submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three haiku messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.
MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.
To participate in the Going to Mars campaign, visit
http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars
For more information on MAVEN, visit:
Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations.
The University of California at Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission.
By Leonard David