Fly Me to the Moon — or at Least My Name!

May 2, 2008 — If you can’t hitch a ride to the moon, at least your name can. NASA is inviting people to join the lunar exploration journey by sending their names to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft. The Send Your Name to the Moon website enables people to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the moon. It’s easy — just type your name in the blanks and click “Add Name.” A database of names will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008. "Everyone who sends their name to the moon, like I'm doing, becomes part of the next wave of lunar explorers," said Cathy Peddie, deputy project manager for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The LRO mission is the first step in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon by 2020, and your name can reach there first. How cool is that?" The orbiter, comprised of six instruments and one technology demonstration, will provide the most comprehensive data set ever returned from the moon. The mission will focus on the selection of safe landing sites and identification of lunar resources. It also will study how the lunar radiation environment could affect humans. LRO will also create a comprehensive atlas of the moon's features and resources that will be needed as NASA designs and builds a planned lunar outpost. The mission will support future human exploration while providing a foundation for upcoming science missions. LRO is scheduled for launch in late 2008. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is being built at Goddard. The mission also will be managed at the center for NASA's Explorations Systems Mission Directorate in Washington.

You name can go to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. To add your name, just go to NASA’s new Send Your Name to the Moon Web site. An artist rendition of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. Photo courtesy NASA My Name is on the Moon Click here to see the LRO video.

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