The project launched by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for its Mars mission in 2020 has drawn great attention on social media. Turkey, on the other hand, ranked first in the list of countries interested in the "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign initiated by NASA. Some 308,454 people from Turkey have so far applied to NASA to send their names to Mars.

In 2020, NASA will send a new Rover spacecraft to Mars, our nearest neighbor in the Solar system. NASA has launched a campaign called "Send Your Name to Mars" with the aim of making space enthusiasts a part of the mission. Thanks to this campaign, those who visit the web page will fill out a form, and their names will be written on the chip that will be placed in the spacecraft. After filling out the form, a symbolic boarding pass is issued for the 2020 Mars mission. The shape of the card is designed to look like a flight ticket, and even with a humorous approach, the number of mileage points can be seen on the pass. A total of 1.6 million people worldwide have applied to the mission following its extensive coverage on social media. Turkey took the lead among the countries showing the highest participation with 308,454 applicants.

NASA, with its drone scout developed under the project Mars 2020, will look for ancient microbial life-forms on the red planet. The new drone, which was developed as a continuation of the Curiosity spacecraft that landed on Mars in 2012 and is expected to be launched into space in July or August of 2020, will also collect stone and soil samples above and below the surface of Mars.

The names will be written on the chips to be installed in the Mars 2020 spacecraft and sent to Mars. In addition, NASA also gives a commemorative boarding pass to the participants. Applications will continue until Sept. 30.