Space is incredibly big, mostly empty, and—let’s be honest—a little bit lonely. It’s hard for the average person sitting on their couch to feel any real connection to a hunk of metal and wires hurtling through a vacuum millions of miles away. That's exactly why NASA started the Send Your Name to Mars program. It sounds like a gimmick. Honestly, it kind of is. But it's a gimmick that has successfully convinced millions of people to care about orbital mechanics and planetary science.
You’ve probably seen the boarding passes on social media. They look official, with a simulated barcode and a tally of "frequent flyer miles" that would make any Delta Diamond Medallion member jealous.
NASA isn't just printing these names on a piece of paper and taping them to the side of a rover. That would be messy. Instead, they use an electron beam to stencil millions of names onto a silicon chip about the size of a dime. The lines of text are incredibly small—less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair. It's the ultimate digital stowaway.
The Reality of Sending Your Name to Mars
When you sign up to send your name to Mars, you’re joining a tradition that goes back decades. This isn't a new PR stunt. NASA has been putting physical tokens on spacecraft for a long time. The Voyager probes famously carry the Golden Record. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers carried pieces of the fallen World Trade Center.
The "Send Your Name" campaign specifically blew up during the Mars 2020 mission, which sent the Perseverance rover to Jezero Crater. Over 10 million people signed up for that one.
Think about that for a second.
Ten million names.
All of those were etched onto three chips. These chips were then mounted to a metal plate on the aft crossbeam of the rover. If you look at the high-resolution photos Perseverance sends back, you can actually see the plate. It's protected by a clear cover, sitting there in the Martian dust, carrying the identities of people from every country on Earth. It’s a silent witness to our curiosity.
✨ Don't miss: Is Duo Dead? The Truth About Google’s Messy App Mergers
Some people think this is just a way for NASA to harvest emails. While they do ask for your info, the primary goal is engagement. NASA needs public support to get funding. If you feel like a tiny piece of you is on Mars, you're more likely to watch the landing. You’re more likely to care when they find organic molecules in a rock sample. It creates a psychological tether to the mission.
How the Etching Process Works
The technical side of this is actually pretty cool. NASA’s Microdevices Laboratory at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) handles the heavy lifting. They use a process similar to how computer processors are made.
First, they take a silicon wafer.
Then, they use an electron beam machine to "write" the names.
It’s basically a high-tech version of carving your initials into a tree, except the tree is a semi-conductor and the knife is a beam of electrons.
They can fit about 1.1 million names on a single chip. For the Perseverance mission, they had so many names that they had to use multiple chips. They even included the names of the finalists from the "Name the Rover" essay contest. It's a layer of detail that most people don't even realize exists.
Why Does It Still Matter?
You might wonder if the novelty has worn off. It hasn't. Every time a new mission is announced, whether it’s a lander or an orbiter, the portal opens back up.
People sign up for all sorts of reasons. Some do it for their kids to spark an interest in STEM. Others do it in memory of a loved one who always wanted to be an astronaut but never got the chance. It’s a symbolic gesture, but symbols have weight.
There's also the "time capsule" aspect. These rovers aren't coming back. Unless a future colony retrieves them for a museum, those chips will stay on the Martian surface for thousands, maybe millions of years. Mars is a dry, cold desert. There’s no liquid water on the surface to rust the metal. There’s no wind strong enough to blow the rover away like in The Martian. Your name could outlast the very civilization that sent it there.
🔗 Read more: Why the Apple Store Cumberland Mall Atlanta is Still the Best Spot for a Quick Fix
That's a heavy thought for a Tuesday morning.
Common Misconceptions About the Program
One big mistake people make is thinking they can still add their name to a mission that has already launched. Once that rocket leaves the pad at Cape Canaveral, the list is closed. You can't "update" the chip via Wi-Fi.
Another thing: your name isn't "on" the planet; it's on the hardware. If the rover crashes—which, let's be honest, has happened more than a few times in the history of Mars exploration—your name is currently a microscopic smear in a debris field.
But if it lands safely? It’s there.
NASA also runs a "frequent flyer" point system. If you send your name to Mars on multiple missions, your points accumulate. It doesn't actually get you anything—you can't trade them for a free flight to the ISS—but it’s a fun way to track your "involvement" in the exploration of the solar system.
The Logistics of Signing Up
The process is usually pretty straightforward. You go to the official NASA Mars mission website. You fill out a form with your name, country, and email. You get a digital boarding pass.
- Check for open missions: NASA doesn't always have a "Send Your Name" campaign active. They usually open them up a year or two before a major launch.
- Keep your confirmation: If you lose your "frequent flyer" number, you can usually look it up with your email, but it's easier to just save the PDF of the boarding pass.
- Watch the launch: There is something genuinely thrilling about watching a Vulcan or Atlas V rocket punch through the atmosphere knowing your name is tucked away inside the payload fairing.
Looking Toward the Future: Beyond Mars
While Mars is the main focus, NASA has done this for other missions too. The Europa Clipper mission, which is headed to one of Jupiter's moons, also had a "Message in a Bottle" campaign. It wasn't just names; they included a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.
💡 You might also like: Why Doppler Radar Overland Park KS Data Isn't Always What You See on Your Phone
This tells us that the "Send Your Name" concept is evolving. It’s moving from just a list of names to a collection of human culture. We are sending our art, our literature, and our identities into the dark.
It’s worth noting that some critics call this "space littering." They argue that we shouldn't be leaving digital footprints on pristine alien worlds. However, compared to the massive radioactive thermal generators and the titanium frames of the rovers themselves, a few silicon chips are the least of our planetary protection concerns.
The value of inspiration far outweighs the "litter" of a microscopic chip. If sending a name to Mars inspires one kid to become an aerospace engineer, the mission is a success before it even touches the dirt.
Actionable Steps for Space Enthusiasts
If you want to get your name off this rock, here is what you actually need to do.
First, go to the NASA Mars Exploration website and look for the "Participate" or "Send Your Name" section. If a mission is currently accepting names, sign up immediately. Don't wait until the month of the launch, because they usually close the list months in advance to give the lab time to etch the chips and integrate them into the spacecraft.
Second, if no Mars missions are currently open, check the broader NASA "Citizen Science" portal. Sometimes missions to the Moon or even deep-space telescopes have similar engagement programs.
Third, make sure you use a permanent email address. If you want to track your "miles" over the next twenty years, you don't want to lose access because you used an old college or work email that got deactivated.
Finally, share the boarding pass. It sounds cheesy, but the whole point of this program is to spread awareness. Post it. Talk about the mission. Explain to someone why we're going back to the red planet to look for signs of ancient life.
Sending your name is just the entry point. The real journey is following the mission, looking at the raw images that come back every day, and realizing that we are living in the golden age of planetary exploration. You’re not just a name on a chip; you’re a supporter of the greatest adventure in human history.