Public invited to send their names, message with Mars mission

GREENBELT, Md., May 1 (UPI) -- NASA says it is inviting the public to submit names and personal messages for a DVD to be carried on a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.

The DVD -- part of the mission's Going to Mars Campaign, run by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics -- will be in NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, the space agency reported Wednesday.

Members of the public can submit their names online and the DVD will carry every name submitted, NASA said.

People may also submit a three-line poem, or haiku, but only three haikus -- to be determined by a public vote -- will be selected for the DVD.

"The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission," said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at CU/LASP.

The deadline for submissions is July 1, and the haiku voting will begin July 15, NASA said.