May 11, 2008

NASA offers chance to add name to spacecraft

DVD going into space with human names on board

By Melanie Carroll / Daily News Staff Writer

Finally, the chance for your name to be carried into space has come.

When the Kepler Mission rockets away from Earth, a DVD containing perhaps millions of human names will be on board.

"This mission will provide our first knowledge of Earth-like planets beyond our solar system," said Kepler Mission principal investigator William Borucki.

The Kepler Mission is scheduled for launch in February 2009 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There is no limit to the number of names that can be submitted, officials said.

At the end of this year - in November - the Name in Space DVD will be mounted on the exterior of the spacecraft. A video of the DVD being mounted on the spacecraft will be taken and posted on the Kepler Mission Web site before the spacecraft is shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in December.

"It's a way for the public to participate in our space program," said David Koch, deputy principal investigator for the Kepler Mission. "We're looking for several million names. ... The only limitation is people's interest."

A copy of the DVD with all of the names and messages will also be given to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Anyone wishing to participate in the Name in Space project should submit his or her name, the state or country they live in, and if they desire, a statement less than 500 words describing why the Kepler Mission is important.

The deadline for the free submissions to the Kepler Mission Web site (http://kepler.nasa.gov/) is Nov. 1.



E-mail Melanie Carroll at

mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.