ARLA/CLUSTER: Nasa convida a enviarem mensagens para Marte num DVD

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

NASA invites public to send names and messages to Mars

NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a
personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft
that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.

Scheduled for launch in November, the DVD will be in NASA's Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. The DVD is part
of the mission's Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University
of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
(CU/LASP).

The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged
to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku.

However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all
submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top
three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.

"The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a
personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in
general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission," said
Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach
program at CU/LASP.

Participants who submit their names to the Going to Mars campaign will
be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their
involvement with the MAVEN mission.

"This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation
of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering
and math," said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from
CU/LASP. "I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide
community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red
Planet's atmosphere."

MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding
the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the
loss of Mars' atmosphere to space determined the history of water on
the surface.

"This mission will continue NASA's rich history of inspiring and
engaging the public in spaceflight in ongoing Mars exploration," said
David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md.

MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado
at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The
university will provide science operations, science instruments and
lead Education and Public Outreach. Goddard manages the project and
provides two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed
Martin of Littleton, Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible
for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley Space
Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., provides
navigation support, the Deep Space Network and the Electra
telecommunications relay hardware and operations.

To participate in the Going to Mars campaign, visit
http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars

For more information on MAVEN, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/maven