Over 1.3 Lakh Indians Book Flight For Mars Trip

Mumbai: For a trip to Mars over one lakh Indians have registered their names. A staggering 1,38,899 Indians have booked flight to Mars through Nasa’s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission which is schedule for launch next year on May 5.

Interestingly, their names are being written on a silicon wafer microchip using an electron beam to form letters with lines on one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. This chip will then be attached to the top hull of the lander. India ranks third in the global list for the Mars mission. US is leading with 6,76,773 names followed by China with 2,62,752 names.

Andrew Good of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said that the submission of the names ended last week and they will not accept any more entries.