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Send Your Name to Mars

NASA's InSight lander will travel to Mars next year. When it does, it will be carrying two microchips bearing the names of members of the public.

October 02, 2017

NASA's InSight lander will travel to Mars next year. When it does, it will be carrying two microchips bearing the names of members of the public.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech
 

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Visitors await news of InSight's landing during a viewing party at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California on Nov. 26, 2018.
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Visitors await news of InSight's landing during a viewing party at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California on Nov. 26, 2018.
California Science Center Hosts a Landing Viewing Party
Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 
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Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
MarCO Being Tested in Sunlight
The Mars lander portion of NASA's InSight spacecraft is lifted from the base of a storage container in preparation for testing, in this photo taken June 20, 2017, in a Lockheed Martin clean room fa...
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The Mars lander portion of NASA's InSight spacecraft is lifted from the base of a storage container in preparation for testing, in this photo taken June 20, 2017, in a Lockheed Martin clean room facility in Littleton, Colorado.
Hoisting NASA's InSight Lander
To clean a bit of dust from one of its solar panels, NASA’s InSight lander trickled sand above the panel. The wind-borne sand grains then picked up some dust on the panel, enabling the lander to ga...
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To clean a bit of dust from one of its solar panels, NASA’s InSight lander trickled sand above the panel.
InSight's Robotic Arm Helps Remove Solar Panel Dust Trickles Sand in the Wind
Engineers use a replica of NASA's InSight lander, which will launch to Mars later this year, at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
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engineers in lab with spacecraft
InSight Testbed at JPL
Employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory gather on Nov. 26, 2018, to watch InSight land on Mars.
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Employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory gather on Nov. 26, 2018, to watch InSight land on Mars.
InSight Mission Team Gathers Before Mars Landing
This infographic shows how InSight uses a seismometer and quakes to study the inner layers of Mars. Seismic signals from quakes change as they pass through different kinds of materials; seismologis...
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This infographic shows how InSight uses a seismometer and quakes to study the inner layers of Mars. Seismic signals from quakes change as they pass through different kinds of materials; seismologists can “read” the squiggles of a seismogram to study the properties of the planet’s crust, mantle, and core.
How InSight Studies Mars' Inner Layers
Animation of the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander deploying its instruments on the surface of Mars.
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Animation showing the InSight Spacecraft Lander
Animation of the InSight Spacecraft Lander
NASA's InSight lander deployed its Wind and Thermal Shield on Feb. 2 (Sol 66). The shield covers InSight's seismometer, which was set down onto the Martian surface on Dec. 19.
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NASA's InSight lander deployed its Wind and Thermal Shield on Feb. 2 (Sol 66). The shield covers InSight's seismometer, which was set down onto the Martian surface on Dec. 19.
InSight Deploys Its Wind and Thermal Shield
InSight is lining up to land on Mars. The trip from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars is 6-and-a-half minutes of sheer terror.
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InSight is lining up to land on Mars. The trip from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars is 6-and-a-half minutes of sheer terror.
Arrival
Mission team members for InSight, the new Mars lander mission selected by NASA to launch in 2016, explain how the spacecraft will advance our knowledge of Mars' history and rocky planet evolution.
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Digging Deep with NASA's Next Mars Lander
Digging Deep with NASA's Next Mars Lander
This video includes a seismogram and sonification of the signals recorded by NASA’s InSight Mars lander, which detected an estimated magnitude 5 quake on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or so...
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This video includes a seismogram and sonification of the signals recorded by NASA’s InSight Mars lander, which detected an estimated magnitude 5 quake on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Seismogram and Sonification of InSight's Big Martian Quake
Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, prepare NASA's InSight lander for testing in a thermal vacuum chamber several months before launch.
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Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, prepare NASA's InSight lander for testing in a thermal vacuum chamber several months before launch.
Pre-Launch T-VAC Testing on InSight
An artist's concept of one of NASA's MarCO CubeSats. The twin MarCOs are the first CubeSats to complete a trajectory correction maneuver, firing their thrusters to guide themselves toward Mars.
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An artist's concept of one of NASA's MarCO CubeSats.
MarCO CubeSats Steer Toward Mars
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a meteoroid impact that was first detected by the agency’s InSight lander using its seismometer. This crater was formed on Aug. 30, 2021.
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NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a meteoroid impact that was first detected by the agency’s InSight lander using its seismometer. This crater was formed on Aug. 30, 2021.
InSight-Detected Impact in August 2021
ETH Zurich professor Domenico Giardini spent his career studying earthquakes - once NASA InSight lands, he will get to study marsquakes. An Italian living in Switzerland, Domenico works with NASA’s...
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Inside InSight - Swiss-Italian Scientist Studies Earthquakes and Marsquakes
Inside InSight: Swiss-Italian Scientist Studies Earthquakes and Marsquakes
The science deck of NASA's InSight lander is being turned over in this April 29, 2015, photo from InSight assembly and testing operations inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.
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The science deck of NASA's InSight lander is being turned over in this April 29, 2015, photo from InSight assembly and testing operations inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.
Turning the InSight Lander's Science Deck
In a Mars-like environment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the fish-eye instrument context camera aboard NASA's InSight lander snapped this image of the actor Brad Pitt on Sept. 6, 2019. Pitt ...
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In a Mars-like environment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the fish-eye instrument context camera aboard NASA's InSight lander snapped this image of the actor Brad Pitt on Sept. 6, 2019. Pitt visited JPL to learn about real space technology after filming his space-themed movie "Ad Astra."
A Hollywood Star in InSight's Mars 'Sandbox'
Mars takes a longer trip around the Sun than Earth does. Find out what that means for spacecraft in this 60-second video.
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How Long Is a Year on Mars?
Mars in a Minute: How Long Is a Year on Mars?
An artist's concept of InSight's heat probe, called the Heat and Physical Properties Package (HP3), annotates various parts inside of the instrument.
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An artist's concept of InSight's heat probe, called the Heat and Physical Properties Package (HP3), annotates various parts inside of the instrument.
HP3 Cutaway Rendering
Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, test the solar arrays on NASA's InSight lander several months before launch.
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Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, test the solar arrays on NASA's InSight lander several months before launch.
Pre-Launch Testing of InSight's Solar Arrays
NASA's InSight spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final preparations for launch.
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NASA's InSight spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final preparations for launch. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet's interior by listening for marsquakes and measuring its heat output. It will be the first planetary spacecraft to launch from this west coast launch facility. The launch period for InSight opens May 5, 2018 and continues through June 8, 2018.
Mars InSight Arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base
InSight project manager Tom Hoffman and principal investigator Bruce Banerdt pose with their "boarding passes" in 2015, showing that they're both sending their names to Mars.
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InSight project manager Tom Hoffman and principal investigator Bruce Banerdt pose with their "boarding passes" in 2015, showing that they're both sending their names to Mars.
Bunny Suits
​This is NASA InSight's second full selfie on Mars. Since taking its first selfie, the lander has removed its heat probe and seismometer from its deck, placing them on the Martian surface; a thin c...
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This is NASA InSight's second full selfie on Mars. Since taking its first selfie, the lander has removed its heat probe and seismometer from its deck, placing them on the Martian surface; a thin coating of dust now covers the spacecraft as well.
InSight's Dusty Selfie
Technicians at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado installed a microchip with 1.6 million names submitted by the public to ride along with NASA’s InSight mission to Mars. 
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Technicians at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado installed a microchip with 1.6 million names submitted by the public to ride along with NASA’s InSight mission to Mars.
InSight's second microchip

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