Fly Your Name to Mars
Published on Feb 5, 2007 at 6:03 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amusement.
A few months ago, I posted about a program where you could send your name to the asteroid belt. Now, I’m going to tell you of an opportunity to send your name to Mars.
This August, the Phoenix Lander will be launched to Mars. If all goes well, it will land in the northern polar region of that planet in May of 2008. The northern hemisphere of Mars is particularly interesting, because there is speculation that it may have been an ocean once. In fact, orbiter data suggest that much of the northern hemisphere is dust covered ice. If so, then that would be a very important finding. To date, no spacecraft has successfully landed far from the Martian equator. Phoenix will give us a chance to look closely at a part of Mars never before studied in great detail.
The Planetary Society will be sending a special silica glass DVD along with Phoenix to Mars. The DVD will have a collection of Mars literature and art, along with personal messages from leading space enthusiasts. There will be stories by Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and a host of others. Giovanni Schiaparelli’s observations, as well as Percival Lowell’s observations will be there, as well. This DVD will also contain thousands of individuals names. And, your name can be among them! All you need to do is fill out a form.
Now, I don’t really think that there is a great likelihood of this DVD being read anytime soon. In fact, it might never be read. By the time that Mars colonization takes place, if it does, and archivists go looking for artifacts, I am willing to bet that the DVD will be obsolete technology. It will be like sending a 5.25 inch floppy disk. If you found one, what would you do with it? It is hard to even find a computer today that would read one! Likewise, in the future, I predict that DVDs will go the way of the floppy. But, still, it will be cool to have your name on one sitting on Mars.
-Astroprof
Astroprof’s Page » Names in Space on May 28, 2008 at 12:13 am: 1
[…] I am now on Mars. Or, at least my name is on Mars. Early last year, I wrote about a program sponsored by the Planetary Society to send names to Mars aboard the Phoenix Lander on a […]