Elain Brown Science 03.11.2022 20:Mar PM EST

NASA Will Take Your Name on a Trip Around the Moon

NASA will be flying names to the moon along with the first Artemis mission.

As NASA launches the rocket to fly to the moon, a flash drive will be sent containing names of space enthusiasts who can be virtual guests.

The first out of three installments of the Artemis mission will launch uncrewed to the moon this year.

Fly Your Name Through the Artemis I Mission

NASA is flying names through the moon as the agency is aiming to get back again to the moon again.

NASA hopes to land back and explore more about the moon by a series of launches the Artemis mission will have.

Through the first Artemis mission, NASA will be flying names along with the Orion spacecraft.

As reported by CNN, NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton stated, "We hope this is a way to get people excited and to bring them along and inspire the next generation, the Artemis generation".

NASA will collect the names to be put into a flash drive; the flash drive must be loaded onto the spacecraft approximately one month prior to the scheduled launch date.

NASA has already received more than 1 million names since launching the submissions earlier this month.

Hambleton added, "We're hoping to keep up this momentum of just a little over a week ago ... to gather many more names and generate more excitement from people around the globe that are going to virtually ride along."

Those who signed up will be rewarded with their own "virtual boarding pass," which will include their name and other details about the mission. They will also see Orion travel around the moon and back again.

As an added bonus, participants will receive a QR code that will allow them to view NASA launches as virtual guests.

Space enthusiasts can still participate in getting their virtual boarding pass here. Anyone interested can go to NASA's website and sign up for free.

Artemis I Launch: 1 of 3

Artemis, the Space Launch System rocket, and the Orion spacecraft will be tested for the first time without a crew during this mission.

The Artemis mission will pave the way for the first woman and the first person of color to set foot on the Moon. Artemis I is formerly known as the Exploration Mission-1.

Taking place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, it will be the first integrated test of NASA's deep space exploration systems, which include the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems.

Within four to six weeks, it will have traveled more than 280,000 miles from Earth and thousands of miles beyond the Moon on its way to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft will remain in space for six days to collect data and provide mission controllers with an opportunity to evaluate the spacecraft's performance.

The spacecraft will be traveling around the moon retrograde from the direction the Moon travels around Earth.

This is how NASA will lead the next steps of human exploration in deep space wherein the astronauts can build and test systems needed to be able to land safely in the next lunar surface mission. The data to be gathered will be used in building human presence both on the Moon and on Mars.

The second flight will take the crew on a different trajectory and will allow them to test Orion's critical systems while they are on board together with the Artemis crew.

As of the latest news release of NASA, the launch date of the first Artemis flight is still unknown. However, NASA will launch another media teleconference on Monday, March 14 as they roll out the rocket to Launch Pad 39B.