NASA’s Message in a Bottle Campaign Closing Soon
NASA is nearing the end of its campaign to collect names for a “message in a bottle” that will be sent with its upcoming Europa Clipper mission. The campaign, which closes after this weekend, has already garnered over 2.4 million submissions from people looking to send their names into space.
The names will be accompanying a poem about Jupiter’s moon Europa written by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón. The poem will be engraved in Limón’s handwriting on a metal plate attached to the spacecraft. Europa is believed to possess a deep saltwater ocean beneath its icy surface, making it a prime location to search for microbial life.
Participating in the campaign is simple – just visit NASA’s website and fill out a short signup form. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow, December 31st. All of the names gathered will be stenciled onto microchips using an electron beam, creating lines of text smaller than 1/1000th the width of a human hair. These microchips will then be affixed to the plate containing the poem.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is set to launch in October 2024, with an estimated six-year journey before reaching Jupiter’s orbit. Once there, the spacecraft will conduct a series of close flybys to investigate Europa’s potential habitability. Europa is one of the estimated 95 moons circling Jupiter and is among the longest known to humanity.
Those interested in participating in the campaign should act quickly, as the deadline is fast approaching. This unique opportunity to send your name to another world is a chance not to be missed.