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One of NASA's many space programs in recent years is the Mars 2020 mission. The mission launched a rover named "Perseverance" in July 2020, which landed on the Martian surface in February 2021. The mission also includes the "Ingenuity" helicopter, a demonstrator rotorcraft and the first machine to achieve powered flight on another planet.
To increase public awareness about the mission, NASA conducted an outreach campaign called "Send Your Name to Mars". People around the world could register their names using a form on NASA's website, and their submissions were etched into three chips mounted onto the rover. Over ten million names were submitted, and I was one of them.
I have an interest in astronomy and space science in general, Mars 2020 included, and I signed up primarily to receive e-mail about the mission. I wasn't thinking about the implications of submitting my name to the project. But now, on the surface of Mars, there exists a placard with my name on it. My identity is now recognized literally on another world.
Space, being so far away from our concerns here on Earth, sometimes doesn't even feel real. I look at the night sky and just see some dots of light against a black tapestry. But gestures like this from NASA and other space agencies around the world remind me that I'm not just a human on Earth. I have a presence in a vast, incomprehensibly-rich universe. That's pretty cool to think about.
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[Last updated: 2022-05-12]