In 2024, a new spaceship named Europa Clipper will depart to explore Mars' moon Europa to learn about its ability to support life here. The special thing about this project is that besides the high-tech sensors, the ship will carry the names of hundreds of thousands of people and a unique poem.
NASA has a history of sending meaningful messages and art to space with the hope that aliens can find them. The most famous is the golden disc carried by the Voyager spacecraft in the 1970s. The discs include images, audio, music, and voice greetings in 55 languages. Currently, a similar new project called the bottleneck message is also being carried out by NASA.
NASA is calling on everyone to participate in its plan to send a message to its new universe. Those who want to make their mark on a distant moon of Mars should just submit their names to NASA before October 2024. These names will be put into space on the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is expected to enter Mars' orbit in 2030.
Europa, one of Mars' 95 moons, was chosen for this mission because it is said to have liquid energy and water, creating ideal conditions for life. Although Europa's surface is covered by a layer of ice, research shows that there is a vast liquid ocean under that surface with chemical activities that can create conditions for life.
In addition to the names of the participants, Message in Bottle also carries a unique poem. According to the Washington Post, American poet Ada Limon's poem "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa" will be used as a source of encouragement and learning about the wonders of the universe.
The participants will become part of history when their names and poems will be printed on a very small microchip by NASA, then attached to a metal plate and taken to the spacecraft. This is a special opportunity to send hope and express the desire to explore the vastness of the universe of humans.
To date, about 700,000 names have been sent to NASA, creating a big message about connection and space exploration. The names will be printed on a microchip of a quarter in extremely small writing, then attached to a metal plate with the accompanying poem.
