AN College faculty Ashok Ghosh was among 10.32 lakh people from across the world who received a “boarding pass” on Sunday that will help him send his name to Mars.

The environment teacher has registered for National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) idea where it is giving people a chance to shoot their names on Orion spacecraft, scheduled to launch on December 4, and then to Mars.

Ghosh said: “Since I am fascinated by outer space, I didn’t want to miss this chance through which I could send my name in space.”

Nasa records state that India ranks second in terms of registrations after US. Of the total registrations, 1,44,031 are from India and 3,04,869 are from US.

In a Nasa statement, Orion’s program manager Mark Geyer stated: “Nasa is working to send people to Mars in future. Flying these names on Orion will enable people to be a part of our journey.”

The deadline for registration is October 31. If one misses the inaugural Orion flight test, there will be future opportunities as well.

But the youths are not in the mood to miss this opportunity. Ravi Ranjan, the 28-year-old lawyer, said: “I got to know about this through a friend and immediately registered for it. Though I don’t know if I would be able to step on the Red Planet ever, my name will definitely be there now.”

Steps to register for Orion mission

Hit http://go.usa.gov/vcpz
Fill up registration form and submit
Site will generate boarding pass
‘Success! Your name will fly on Orion’s flight test’ will pop up

Ashok Ghosh’s boarding pass