Bhubaneswar, Sept. 10: Aishwarya Mohanty, a 22-year-old content writer, was among the lucky 8.26 lakh people from all over the world to get a "boarding pass" to Nasa's mission to Mars.
While the pass will not give Aishwarya the chance to make a trip to the red planet, it will allow her to send her name to it. Nasa will launch the InSight Mission to Mars on March 4 , 2016 and her name will be embedded in a microchip aboard the spacecraft.
Like Aishwarya, a number of space enthusiasts from the state registered their names for the mission. The last date for registering names was September 8.
Interestingly, India ranks second in terms of registrations after US with 57,867.
"I do not know how many years it will take us to reach an alien planet. But, I am satisfied that my name will reach Mars," said Aishwarya.
The space enthusiast has also registered the names of her parents, brother and her pet dog Aron.
InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a Nasa discovery program mission that will place a geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior.
By using sophisticated geophysical instruments, InSight will delve deep beneath the surface, detecting the finer processes of terrestrial planet formation, as well as measuring the planet's vital signs such as seismology, heat flow probe, and precision tracking.
Last October, Nasa had also invited people to be a part of their Orion spacecraft. Over 2.8 lakh people from around the world, including 22,000 Indians, had submitted their names for the mission that was launched in December 2014.
Archana Patnaik, an engineering student, has got her "boarding mission" for both the missions. "I want my name every time the spacecraft goes out of the planet. I want to be a part of all the journeys into space and finally when man puts his foot on Mars," said Archana.
Those who have missed the chance this time are already looking forward to the Exploration Mission.
Anirudh Behera, a school student, had posted the picture of his pass on Facebook.
