NASA invites public to sign poem that will fly aboard Europa Clipper

Want to have a part of you in outer space?

Members of the public are invited to add their names to an original poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission before the spacecraft begins its journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa in October 2024.

According to a news release, the poem, which was written by Laureate Ada Limón, and the names will be like a message in a bottle, traveling billions of miles as the mission investigates whether the ocean believed to lie beneath Europa’s icy crust could support life.

As part of the “Message in a Bottle” campaign, names received before 10:59 p.m. CT on Dec. 31, 2023, will be stenciled onto a microchip, along with the poem, which is entitled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa.”

“‘Message in a Bottle’ is the perfect convergence of science, art, and technology, and we are excited to share with the world the opportunity to be a part of Europa Clipper’s journey,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “I just love the thought that our names will be traveling across our solar system aboard the radiation-tolerant spacecraft that seeks to unlock the secrets of Jupiter’s frozen moon.”

To add your name, read the poem, and hear Limón recite the poem in an animated video, click here. The site will also allow visitors to create and download a customizable souvenir, which is an illustration of your name on a message in a bottle against a rendering of Europa and Jupiter, the release said. Participants can use the hashtag #SendYourName on social media.

According to NASA’s website, Europa Clipper’s main goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Europa that could support life. The mission’s three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon’s composition and geology, the release said.

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