(SPOT.ph) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reopened their "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign on July 30, and everyone got pretty excited. While the program isn't entirely bringing actual human beings to the red planet along with those cool-looking boarding pass, there's no harm in wishing that we can all leave Earth one day. And it looks like Filipinos are first in line in hoping to escape everything that's going on in our planet. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1,009,459 people from the Philippines signed up their names for the campaign as of July 31, 12 a.m; and the numbers just continue to rise by the minute.
On July 30 at 7:50 a.m. EDT, Mars rover Perseverance left Earth with 10,932,295 names in tow. But instead of bearing placards or ID cards, the names were "stenciled by electron beam onto three fingernail-sized silicon chips" that were placed to an aluminum plate on the spacecraft's mast.
Anyone can sign up with their names for the next mission, which will be departing in July 2026 from Cape Canaveral in Florida and arriving on Jezero Crater in Mars. The world total as of July 31, 12 a.m. is at 1,934,363 with the United States coming in second place.
To send your name to Mars, log on to NASA's website.
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