[이데일리 강민구 기자] Although it is difficult for us to go to space ourselves, we have an opportunity to send something to distant space on a probe worthy of its name.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it is accepting applications from people who will engrave their names on a microchip on the Jupiter satellite probe Europa Clipper until the 31st of this month (US Eastern time) for the ‘Message in a Bottle’ event. Participation fee is free. You can also download an image file with your English name in a bottle by simply entering your name, email, country, and zip code on the NASA website.
NASA plans to launch a probe called Europa Clipper in October next year to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. If the launch is successful, the probe will enter orbit near Jupiter by 2030 and then fly the satellite dozens of times over the years to see whether the environment is suitable for life.
It is reported that more than 1 million participants have applied for this event so far, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory plans to engrave their names on a coin-sized microchip once applications close. Each line of the name is less than one thousandth the width of a human hair.
NASA plans to engrave American poet Ada Limon’s tribute to Europa on the probe, seal it with a microchip, and send it on board the probe.
The reason for holding these events is to inform the public of the need for space exploration, which costs a lot of money and requires public support. In particular, this event can be seen as an attempt to integrate art and science in that it combines a tribute to Europa, a space probe, and sending a name.
Previously, NASA held an event to send applicants’ names to the launch of Artemis 1, starting with the ‘Send Names to Mars’ event in 2019. In Korea, there is a case where the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute held an event to engrave the applicant’s name on the nanosatellite ‘SNIPE’. To name the domestic rocket, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute held a name contest and named it ‘Nuriho.’
Results of participation in the Jupiter Satellite Exploration ‘Message in a Bottle’ event. The destination, takeoff date, and destination arrival date are listed. (Data = NASA website)
