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New Delhi: Around 138,899, people from India are Mars-bound. They have ?booked? a flight to the Red Planet via Nasa?s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission slated for launch on May 5, 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n Nasa states that those who submitted their names were provided online ?boarding passes? for the mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n The names are being etched on a silicon wafer microchip using an electron beam to form letters with lines one one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. This chip will then be attached to the top hull of the lander.<\/strong><\/p>\n Several Indians responded to Nasa?s call for names+ for the Mars mission. The total number of names received by Nasa from all over the world is 2,429,807.<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Nasa, India ranks third in the global list with regard to the number of names submitted for the Mars mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n The first is the US with 676,773 names followed by China with 262,752 names. India stands at number three.<\/strong><\/p>\n Space experts point out that US leading the list is not surprising since it is, after all, a Nasa mission. However, they do say that the fact that India is next to China is a matter of significance. They attribute India being ranked among the first three nations to two factors: the excitement and interest in Mars flights triggered by India?s ground-breaking Mangalyaan mission+ , and the overall strengthening of India-US space ties.<\/strong><\/p>\n Andrew Good of Nasa?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) told\u00a0Times of India\u00a0that the deadline to submit names was last week and ?we are no longer accepting submissions?.<\/strong><\/p>\n Slated for landing near the Mars equator on November 26, 2018, it is a 720-day mission, which will gather data on the Martian interior by monitoring Marsquakes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Nasa states that InSight?s role is not only to study Mars, but also to gain broader insight into the formation of rocky planets in the entire solar system.<\/strong><\/p>\n Published on:\u00a01:20 pm, November 13, 2017<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by:\u00a0