NASA’s call to send your name to Jupiter’s moon Europa

A view of Jupiter’s moon Europa
| Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS and Kevin M. Gill

NASA is inviting people to send their names to Jupiter’s moon via its Europa Clipper spacecraft that is scheduled to launch next year and orbit the Europa moon by 2030.

Astronomy lovers can send their names into space or submit a loved one’s name. An American poem will be engraved on the spacecraft, while people’s names will be stencilled onto microchips that are mounted on the craft, according to NASA.

“Scientists are almost certain that beneath Europa’s ever-changing icy crust lies a vast saltwater ocean that holds almost twice as much water as Earth’s oceans. With a thin oxygen atmosphere and abundant water, Europa is considered one of the best places in our solar system to search for life,” posted NASA on Instagram on Christmas, suggesting that sending in names could serve as a last minute gift.

People can submit names through a form on the NASA website. Applications will close on December 31.

2,204,120 names have been added to the list since June this year, with over 350,000 of them coming from India.

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The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel 2.9 billion km to study Jupiter’s moon and learn more about its oceanic structures, to see if it can one day sustain life.

Europa was named after the mother of King Minos in Greek mythology, and was discovered by Simon Marius and Galileo Galilei in the 17th century.