Space travel: How to send your name to Mars in the future

What do you think about space travel? Does journeying into the depths of our galaxy or beyond to explore other planets like the Moon or Mars interest you at all? What about a sightseeing safari where you orbit Earth and take in the views of our spectacular planet?

It used to sound like science fiction, and it certainly has been the premise of some excellent sci-fi movies. However,  last year Astronomy reported that “space tourism” is closer to becoming a reality than ever. They listed six ways to buy a ticket to space with some of the voyages blasting off as early as this year!

Of course, the cost to experience such an adventure is exorbitant —one might even say “out of this world.” (Come on. I couldn’t resist working that in there!) However, there is one way you can travel into space for free. Or at least your name can.

NASA is accepting reservations to send your name to Mars on their next flight to the Red Planet. As of this post, they’ve accepted over seven million reservations! So how do you get your name booked on the next mission? Let’s check out these travel tips for successfully claiming your boarding pass.

How to send your name to Mars

1. Visit https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/future.
2. Enter your name, country, zip code and email, which is used to track your Frequent Flyer points. You can also check the box to subscribe to NASA’s newsletter and learn about other “Send Your Name to Mars” events.
3. Click the “Send My Name to Mars” button and you’ll receive your boarding pass!

Future Mars mission boarding pass

The boarding pass is really cool. It looks like an official ticket. In addition to your name, it specifies the launch and arrival sites. (My launch site is Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Earth. My arrival site is the Jezero Crater, Mars.)

It also tells you your scheduled departure date. (Mine is July 2026). Once you get it, you can download it or embed it, or you can always review it by re-entering your information. All you need to retrieve it is your last name and email.

The other fun thing your boarding pass specifies are your Frequent Flyer points earned. Pre-2020, I was a frequent flyer, but not frequent enough to reach a million points. NASA already credited me 1.1 billion miles on my boarding pass! There’s a Frequent Flyer tab to check your points too if you’ve already flown before.

Who wants to go to Mars most?

The “Maps” tab has a map of the world that’s shaded to show the countries travelers have already booked from. There’s also a list of countries with a breakdown of how many travelers from each one have signed up.

So far people from the Philippines are the ones who are most excited about a trip to the Red Planet. Over two million people from that country have signed up, which is double that from the United States. The United Kingdom, Italy and India round out the top five.

There’s also a tab labeled “Learn” with more information about Mars and the missions there. For instance, almost 11 million names flew to Mars via the Perseverance Rover when it launched on July 30, 2020. They explain that a placard was installed on the rover with three “fingernail-sized chips” affixed to it.

As they explain it, the names, “were individually stenciled onto the chips by electron beam, along with the essays of the 155 finalists in NASA’s ‘Name the Rover’ contest.” So check it out, get your boarding pass, and let’s see if we’ll end up on the mission together!