When the Perseverance rover landed safely on the surface of Mars, in Jezero Crater, on February 18, 2021, it was also a safe landing for the nearly 11 million names on board.
How did NASA collect the names?
NASA’s “Send your name to Marscampaign invited people around the world to submit their names to ride on the rover. And so people did – with a total of 10,932,295 names submitted. Those names are now on the surface of Mars. , written on three fingernail-sized chips aboard the Perseverance rover.
How are the chips made?
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory stenciled the names onto the chips with an electron beam. With the “E-beam” machine they used, very small features could be written: less than 1 micron, much less than the width of a human hair. They normally use this machine for high precision fabrication in JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory.
In addition to the nearly 11 million names, engineers also have the essays of 155 finalists in NASA’s “Name the RoverEssay contest. This included the winning essay for “Persistence, “As well as the essay for”Ingenuity, ”The name chosen for the experimental helicopter that guided the rover to Mars.
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the chips were mounted on a plate attached to the center of the rear crossmember on Perseverance before launch, where they are visible to cameras on the rover’s mast.
Also on the plate: a laser-etched image of the Earth and Mars connected by the rays of the sun that both emit light. Written in Morse code in the sun’s rays is a hidden message, “Explore As One.” The artwork pays tribute to the plaques on the Pioneer spacecraft and the Golden Records carried into space by Voyagers 1 and 2.
How can I sign up to send my name to the next Mars mission?
If you sent your name to Mars on Perseverance, you can pick up your boarding pass hereIf you missed that opportunity, you can register send your name on a future Mars mission.
Quick Facts
| Chip size | Each of the three chips is the size of a fingernail. |
| Chip location | Affixed to the top left corner of a plaque on the rear crossbar of the robber |
| Total number of names submitted | 10,932,295 |
| Countries participating | See maps of participating Nations and American states |