Put your name on NASA's VIPER rover for free, get a virtual boarding pass to the moon. Here's how

C. A. Bridges, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read
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An artist’s concept of the completed design of NASA’s VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover.
An artist’s concept of the completed design of NASA’s VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover.

Want to get your name on the moon's surface before the Artemis astronauts get there? NASA is now taking names to (virtually) board the first robotic lunar rover heading to the moon's south pole, and you can get a boarding pass.

The rover VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) will look for water ice and "unravel the mysteries of the Moon’s water and better understand the environment where NASA plans to land the first woman and first person of color under its Artemis program," according to the NASA blog post.

Last year NASA made the same offer for people wanting their names on the Artemis I mission, which launched an Orion spacecraft to spend a month orbiting the moon's surface.

What is the Artemis program?

NASA plans to establish the first long-term presence on the moon. But it will take a lot of steps to get there.

Artemis I successfully orbited a spacecraft around the moon and flew farther from Earth than any other human-rated spacecraft.

Artemis II will launch a crew of four astronauts to orbit the Earth twice to test the systems and make sure NASA is ready for the first manned trip to the moon in over 50 years.

NASA officials are hopeful that Artemis III, which will take the crew to the lunar surface, will come before the end of 2025.

On Monday, the Peregrine robotic lunar lander, the first successful launch under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, left Cape Canaveral on a Vulcan rocket on its way to deliver scientific instruments and payloads ahead of the Artemis missions. The VIPER mission is scheduled to launch in late 2024.

How to send your name to the moon

Sign up by 11:59 p.m. EST, March 15 and get the satisfaction of knowing a device with your name on it is rumbling over the lunar surface where no one has gone before by going to nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-viper. It's free! You also get a virtual boarding pass and general social media bragging rights.

“With VIPER, we are going to study and explore parts of the Moon’s surface no one has ever been to before – and with this campaign, we are inviting the world to be part of that risky yet rewarding journey,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Just think: Our names will ride along as VIPER navigates across the rugged terrain of the lunar South Pole and gathers valuable data that will help us better understand the history of the Moon and the environment where we plan to send Artemis astronauts.”

NASA has sent tens of millions of supporter names into space with Artemis I, several Mars spacecraft, and the upcoming Europa Clipper mission sending a problem to one of Jupiter's largest moons and the most likely one to sustain life. You also can get your name on a waiting list for NASA's next Mars launch.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASA's Artemis offering 'boarding pass,' names on upcoming lunar rover