Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
The scale and sheer size of the universe make it impossible to truly learn everything, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Here's what's happening in space this week. 🚀
Since the dawn of civilization, humans have invented thousands of creative ways to communicate. We've sent messages on horseback, aboard carrier pigeons, and even through bottles floating in the ocean.
Now, we're expanding our horizons and raising the bar. Rather than casting out a message to the open ocean, humans are now looking to the sky.
NASA's 'Message In a Bottle' campaign will send thousands of names into deep space - and you now have the rare opportunity for your name to be included.
In October 2024, NASA will send its Europa Clipper spacecraft 1.8 billion miles away to Jupiter's moon, Europa. Onboard the Europa Clipper will be a dime-sized microchip inscribed with the names of those who submitted before the deadline, Dec. 31, 2023.
According to NASA, over 700,000 names have been submitted so far. Once the deadline passes, the submitted names will be stenciled onto a tiny silicon microchip with an electron beam by technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
You're probably wondering: how can so many names fit on a dime-sized microchip? Thanks to the electron beam, NASA can achieve this with lines of text that are smaller than 1/1000th the width of a human hair!
The list of names won't be making the journey to this icy moon alone. The list will accompany a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón specifically for this mission titled "In Praise of Mystery."
The Europa Clipper will travel over half a billion miles as it orbits Jupiter's sixth-largest moon. Once it reaches Europa, several scientific instruments onboard the spacecraft will collect data on the icy moon's surface in hopes of finding out whether or not it can support life.
Following Europa Clipper's completion, the craft will be sent to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of its October 2024 launch.
To add your name to the microchip and be a part of history, click here.
There are still six weeks until the deadline, but be sure to sign your name by Dec. 31! NASA is encouraging users to share their contribution to the project on social media using the hashtag #SendYourName.
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