Send your name into space aboard NASA's Kepler mission

NASA's Kepler mission (shown in image at left) is offering the chance for anyone who wishes to send their name into space in a mini-DVD that will be attached to this spacecraft. Kepler will orbit the sun instead of the Earth so that it can constantly monitor the stars in a small patch of the sky about the size of a human hand held at arm's length.

To send your name and an answer to the question (optional) "Why do you think the Kepler Mission is important?" (500 words or less) just go to http://namesinspace.seti.org/ . Once you've submitted your name you have to choice to save or print off a certificate to prove your name will be in space (to save: File->Save As… from your browser).

This mission will launch sometime in 2009 and is the first mission capable of detecting Earth-size and smaller objects. This is when your name will be shot into space and will drift in space among the planets...

Name in Space is in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Kepler's publication of Kepler's first two laws of planetary motion. A copy of the mini-DVD with all of the names and messages will be given to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.