NASA is letting the public submit names to travel digitally on Artemis 2 by storing them on an SD card inside the Orion capsule. The crewed mission, launching from Florida between February and April, will be a roughly 10-day lunar flyaround to test systems for future surface missions. More than 1.5 million people have already signed up, and Orion is expected to travel roughly 4,700 miles beyond the far side of the Moon before returning to Earth.
Send Your Name Around the Moon: How to Join NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission
Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon's surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.
NASA is inviting the public to add their names to the upcoming Artemis 2 mission by digitally storing submissions on an SD card that will ride inside the Orion spacecraft. Although only four astronauts will fly, anyone can take part in this symbolic step toward returning humans to the lunar neighborhood.
How To Participate
Visit NASA’s Artemis web portal to submit your name and a preferred PIN. The system generates a virtual boarding pass showing the submitted name, mission details and a QR code that links to NASA’s virtual guest program for updates about Artemis 2.
What Happens To Submitted Names
Names collected through the portal will be included digitally on an SD card installed inside the Orion capsule for the Artemis 2 flight. NASA reported via social media that more than 1.5 million people have already signed up.
About Artemis 2
Artemis 2 is the second crewed mission in NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a sustained presence on the Moon—particularly near the south pole, where water ice could provide drinking water, breathable oxygen and fuel resources.
The mission will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida between February and April. It is planned as a roughly 10-day lunar flyaround—not a landing—during which the crew will test systems and hardware needed for future surface missions. After circling the Moon, Orion is expected to travel about 4,700 miles beyond the far side of the Moon before returning to Earth, making this the farthest human-rated capsule mission in history.
Launch Vehicle and Recent Tests
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, recently rolled out by NASA, will provide the initial liftoff thrust for Orion. Artemis 2 follows Artemis 1, the successful uncrewed test flight in November 2022 that validated the Orion spacecraft and core systems in lunar orbit.
Crew
The Artemis 2 crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch and Glover are noted as the first woman and the first African American, respectively, assigned to a NASA lunar mission, while Hansen will become the first Canadian to fly close to the Moon.
Why It Matters
While only four people will physically fly, NASA’s name-inclusion program offers a way for the public to participate in a historic test flight that advances plans for Artemis 3—a mission that aims to land astronauts on the Moon—and for eventual crewed missions to Mars.
Reporter: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY Network.
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