NASA Invites You to Fly Your Name Around the Moon on Artemis I Mission
Blast your name into space and send it on an epic sightseeing trip to visit our lunar neighbor.
NASA plans to eventually launch its Artemis astronauts to the moon inside the Orion spacecraft, atop its most powerful rocket ever built, the Space Launch System.
There won't be any people flying around the moon on NASA's Artemis I mission, but there will be a whole lot of names on board. You can add yourself to the list by getting a "boarding pass."
NASA has opened sign-ups to have names added to a flash drive that will launch on an Orion capsule with an assist off this rock from a massive Space Launch System rocket. It should be quite a show.
Artemis I is an uncrewed test mission meant to shake out the rocket and capsule before humans take flight on it. Orion will travel around the moon and then come back home. NASA is currently eyeing June for a possible launch date from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
To get on board, you give your name and a PIN and receive a digital pass that includes the line "mileage earned: 1,300,000 miles." If only we got frequent flyer rewards for this.
My name will fly around the moon on Artemis I. Here's my NASA boarding pass.
NASA has offered these sort of name opportunities before, notably with its Mars rover missions. The agency sent nearly 11 million names along with the Perseverance rover. It's a way for space fans to make a more personal connection with the machines that are off on adventures beyond our planet.
It only takes a moment to sign up, and then you can spend a lifetime telling people how your name went along for the ride on a NASA moon mission.