This is an artist's concept of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from the asteroid Bennu.NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard the spacecraft, which will first travel to an asteroid in 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-NASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney
January 15, 2014 - 1:00 PM
WASHINGTON - Here's a chance to have your name on a spacecraft that will eventually spend its time orbiting the sun.
NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which will first travel to an asteroid in 2016.
OSIRIS-REx will use a vision system provided by Canada.
The space probe will spend more than two years at the 500-metre-wide asteroid, named Bennu.
Its main mission is to collect at least 60 grams of material from Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in 2023 in a sample return capsule.
Anyone wishing to participate in "Messages to Bennu!" should submit their name online no later than Sept. 30 at: http://planetary.org/bennu
After a person submits their name, they will be able to download and print a certificate documenting their participation in the OSIRIS-REx mission.
Once the capsule with the sample deploys, the spacecraft will be placed into a long-term orbit around the sun, along with the microchip and every name on it.
NASA says the OSIRIS-REx science mission will help identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, as well as those suitable for asteroid exploration missions.
U.S. President Barack Obama has indicated that his goal is to send humans to an asteroid by 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014