Want to go to Mars? Well, you can't, but your name can

Planet

While a trip to Mars is out of the question for the vast majority of us all, NASA is giving you the chance to at least have your name sent up to the red planet.

This is the second time NASA has opened up this type of opportunity, with the organization launching the "send you name" program for the 2014 Orion Mission.

For that mission, NASA had 1.38 million people apply to have their name sent up to space.

This time, the program will send your name up on a microchip that will be sent up on the InSight space lander, which is scheduled to launch in March 2016 and land on the red planet in September 2016.

All aboard

The lander is being sent to Mars to learn more about what's under the surface of the planet, and will drill deep down into the surface for the first time in order for scientists to study the planet's formation.

"Previous missions to Mars have investigated the surface history of the Red Planet by examining features like canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil, but no one has attempted to investigate the planet's earliest evolution - its building blocks - which can only be found by looking far below the surface," NASA said on its mission website.

You can head on over to NASA's InSight send-your-name page to sign up for a "boarding pass" before September 8.

If you signed up last year for the Orion mission, you can simply log back in with your details to sign your name up again for this mission's program.

Via CNET

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