More than one lakh Indians book ticket for Mars

Several Indians have responded to Nasa’s call for names for the Mars mission.

Mars

This Aug. 26, 2003 image made available by NASA shows Mars photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Source: NASA

Nasa had asked for names for their Mars mission and several Indians have responded to that call by registering their name. According to , around 1,38,899 people from India are registered to go to mars. These people have ‘booked’ a flight to Mars through Nasa’s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission which has been slated for launch on 5th May 2018.

Nasa reported that those who submitted their names were provided with an online ‘boarding pass’ for the mission. The names are being etched on a silicon wafer microchip using an electron beam to form letters with lines one one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. This chip will then be attached to the top hull of the lander.

According to Nasa, India ranks third in the global list with regard to the number of names submitted for the Mars mission. In total, Nasa has received 2,429,807 names from all over the world.

The first is the US with 6,76,773 names followed by China with 2,62,752 names. India stands at number three.

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2 min read
Published 9 November 2017 1:03pm
Updated 9 November 2017 5:24pm
By Preeti K McCarthy


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