Humanity has long sent its symbols beyond the reach of ordinary life, and now NASA invites anyone on Earth to add their own name to that lineage. Through a free online registration open until January 21, 2026, people of any nationality or age can have their names stored on a memory card traveling aboard the Orion spacecraft. The card rides with four astronauts on Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, a loop of roughly ten days passing about 7,400 km above the lunar surface before returning home. The gesture is largely symbolic, yet it quietly widens who g
NASA Opens Public Name Submissions for Artemis II Crewed Lunar Flyby, Deadline January 21, 2026
A four-person flight, with room for anyone's name
Mark
Why would NASA bother collecting names for a flight that only carries four people?
Mimi
It turns a four-person mission into something anyone can have a stake in. You fill out a form, download a boarding pass, and your name goes around the Moon on a memory card.
Mark
Who can sign up?
Mimi
Anyone, any nationality, any age. It's free, in English or Spanish, and the report says you can even register a pet.
Luke
The article says millions of names will be stored. Is that a confirmed count?
Mimi
It's stated as fact in the piece, but no exact number is given, and I wouldn't treat it as more precise than that.
Mark
And the launch date?
Mimi
No later than April 2026 from Kennedy Space Center, with a flight of about 10 days around the Moon.
Luke
"No later than" is a target, not a guarantee. The source doesn't say what happens if the schedule slips, and it doesn't address whether the January deadline would move.
Mark
What does the crew actually do up there?
Mimi
They test Orion's life support, deep space navigation, and communications. That groundwork is meant to support Artemis III, which aims to land near the lunar South Pole.
Luke
Worth noting that the Artemis III landing is described as an aim, with no date attached in this reporting.
Der Puls
- A crewed lunar flyby, the first in more than fifty years, is pressing toward a launch no later than April 2026 from Kennedy Space Center.
- Millions of names are already flowing into a campaign that turns a spaceflight into a shared, personal act for ordinary people.
- The mission must prove Orion's systems, life support, and deep space navigation under real conditions before it can pave the way for Artemis III.
- Registration closes January 21, 2026, and the countdown to launch will decide whether the timeline holds.
Humanity has long sent its symbols beyond the reach of ordinary life, and now NASA invites anyone on Earth to add their own name to that lineage. Through a free online registration open until January 21, 2026, people of any nationality or age can have their names stored on a memory card traveling aboard the Orion spacecraft. The card rides with four astronauts on Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, a loop of roughly ten days passing about 7,400 km above the lunar surface before returning home. The gesture is largely symbolic, yet it quietly widens who gets to feel part of a journey that only four people will make.
Anyone who wants their name on a spacecraft bound for the Moon can now claim a place with a short online form. NASA's "Send Your Name with Artemis II" campaign asks only for a name, an email address, and a language preference, English or Spanish. In return, the person receives a personalized digital boarding pass to download as a keepsake. Families have even registered children and pets. Registration is free and open until January 21, 2026, and millions of names have already been submitted for storage on a memory card aboard Orion.
The mission itself carries four astronauts: Reid Wiseman as commander, Victor Glover as pilot, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Over roughly ten days they will loop around the Moon at about 7,400 km above its surface, testing Orion's systems, navigation, and communications. It is the first crewed lunar flight since Apollo 17 in 1972, and it lays groundwork for Artemis III, which aims to land near the lunar South Pole.
The names themselves do no work on the voyage. They simply ride along. Still, the campaign draws a far wider circle around a mission that carries only four people, and watchers will be waiting to see whether the launch from Florida holds to its April 2026 deadline.
To get your name onto a spacecraft bound for the Moon, you fill out a short online form. NASA is running the "Send Your Name with Artemis II" campaign, and registration closes on January 21, 2026. The names will travel on a memory card aboard the Orion spacecraft during the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years.
The form asks for three things: a name, an email address, and a preferred language, English or Spanish. Submitting it produces a personalized digital boarding pass that can be downloaded immediately as a keepsake. Registration is free and open to anyone, regardless of nationality or age. The Times of India notes that families can register friends, children, or even pets. The sign-up runs through NASA's official portal at nasa.gov.
The flight itself is scheduled to launch no later than April 2026 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four astronauts will fly aboard Orion on a mission of about 10 days. They will loop around the Moon at roughly 7,400 km above its surface and then return to Earth. The report says millions of names have been submitted and will be stored on the card.
The crew is Reid Wiseman as mission commander, Victor Glover as pilot, and Christina Koch as mission specialist, all from NASA, along with Jeremy Hansen, a mission specialist from the Canadian Space Agency. Their job is to test Orion's systems, deep space navigation, and communication technologies, work meant to prepare for future lunar landings.
Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. According to the source, it will validate Orion's performance and test its life-support systems under real spaceflight conditions. It also paves the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole. NASA frames the Artemis program as part of a longer goal of establishing a human presence on the Moon and eventually preparing for Mars exploration.
The name campaign is symbolic, as the coverage describes it. Nobody aboard is doing anything with the names, and the card simply goes along for the ride. But it widens the circle of participation for a mission that will carry only four people.
What to watch next is the January 21, 2026 registration cutoff and whether the launch holds to its April 2026 deadline at Kennedy Space Center.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Artemis II will validate Orion's performance and test its life-support systems, paving the way for Artemis III's landing near the lunar South Pole.— Times of India report, paraphrasing NASA's mission goals
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