NASA is now offering the public the opportunity to have their names included in a poem dedicated to the upcoming Europa Clipper mission.
This ambitious mission, set to launch in October 2024, aims to explore Jupiter's moon Europa and investigate whether its icy crust hides a vast ocean capable of supporting life.
The poem, titled "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," is penned by renowned U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and will be etched onto a microchip along with the names of participants.
How to Join the Campaign
To participate in this special endeavor, interested individuals must submit their names before December 31 by visiting the "Message in a Bottle" campaign's website.
There, they can read the poem, listen to a captivating recitation by Limón in an animated video, and even download a personalized illustration featuring their name on a message in a bottle against a backdrop of Europa and Jupiter.
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The hashtag #SendYourName has been designated for participants to share their excitement on social media.
Convergence of Science, Art, and Technology
Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, expressed enthusiasm for the project in a press release, stating, "'Message in a Bottle' is the perfect convergence of science, art, and technology, and we are excited to share with the world the opportunity to be a part of Europa Clipper's journey.
"I just love the thought that our names will be traveling across our solar system aboard the radiation-tolerant spacecraft that seeks to unlock the secrets of Jupiter's frozen moon," Fox added.
The "Message in a Bottle" campaign follows in the footsteps of previous NASA initiatives that allowed millions of people to send their names on missions like Artemis I and various Mars spacecraft.
Laurie Leshin, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), expressed the importance of inspiration in driving humanity's pursuit of knowledge and exploration.
She stated, "[Inspiration] drives humanity to ask the big questions that this mission will contribute to. Inspiration is riding along with every single name that will be making the journey to Europa."
NASA's Upcoming Jupiter-Bound Mission
Currently under construction at JPL, the Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and embark on a 1.8 billion-mile (2.6 billion-kilometer) voyage to the Jupiter system, where it is scheduled to arrive in 2030.
During its mission, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and conduct approximately 50 flybys of Europa, covering an additional half-billion miles. Equipped with various scientific instruments, it will gather data about Europa's subsurface ocean, icy crust, and atmosphere.
Poet Laureate Ada Limón had the opportunity to visit JPL in January to witness the spacecraft's assembly and learn more about the mission.
The Europa Clipper mission, managed by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, seeks to uncover the potential for habitable worlds beyond Earth by exploring Europa's hidden depths.
With its focus on understanding the moon's ice shell, subsurface ocean, composition, and geology, this ambitious endeavor will significantly contribute to our understanding of astrobiology.
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