NASA Wants to Send Your Name Into Space

It’s asking people to sign a poem written by Ada Limón, the US Poet Laureate. Limón’s poem will be engraved on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft While signatories’ names will be etched on microchips mounted on the craft.

NASA is giving people the opportunity to have their names sent into space on the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The spacecraft will travel 2.9 billion kilometers to Jupiter's ice-covered moon, Europa. It is scheduled to launch in 2024 and reach Jupiter in 2030.

The Europa Clipper spacecraft

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is NASA's largest-ever interplanetary spacecraft. It measures 30 meters across, weighs 6 tonnes, and is powered by 24 engines. In the following years, it will fly past Europa almost 50 times, collecting data to see if the moon is capable of sustaining life.

A poem for Europa

In honor of the Europa Clipper mission, NASA commissioned a poem by the 24th US Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. The poem, entitled "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," celebrates the journey between two watery worlds: Earth and Europa.

An opportunity to inspire the next generation

NASA hopes that the Europa Clipper mission and Ada Limón's poem will inspire the next generation of aeronautical engineers and scientists. The mission is a reminder that there is still so much to learn about our universe, and that anything is possible.