If you want to get to another world, NASA is giving you your chance — in a way.
In September, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will launch to the asteroid Bennu. Once there, it will collect a sample of material and return it to Earth, the first time this has ever been done.
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NASA is inviting the public to send artwork — a sketch, photograph, graphic, song, poem, short video or any other artistic work — that “reflects what it means to be an explorer.”
The work will be saved on a chip on the spacecraft as it makes its way to Bennu. Already, there are 442,000 names on a chip that will also make the voyage.
On board the spacecraft is the Canadian instrument OLA, short for OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter, which will measure the topography and surface composition of the asteroid.
The primary mission to Bennu is to learn more about the early formation of our solar system as well as how we may be able to avoid asteroid impacts here on Earth.
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