Date: May 2nd 2008

May 1, 2008

Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 grey hautaluoma-1@nasa gov

Nancy Neal Jones Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md 301-286-0039 nancy n jones@nasa gov

RELEASE: 08-110

SEND YOUR NAME TO THE MOON WITH NEW LUNAR MISSION

WASHINGTON -- NASA invites people of all ages to join the lunar exploration journey with an opportunity to send their names to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft

The Send Your Name to the Moon Web site enables everyone to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the moon for years to come Participants can submit their information at http://www nasa gov/lro, print a certificate and have their name entered into a database The database will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008

"Everyone who sends their name to the moon, like I'm doing, becomes part of the next wave of lunar explorers," said Cathy Peddie, deputy project manager for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md "The LRO mission is the first step in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon by 2020, and your name can reach there first How cool is that?"

The orbiter, comprised of six instruments and one technology demonstration, will provide the most comprehensive data set ever returned from the moon The mission will focus on the selection of safe landing sites and identification of lunar resources It also will study how the lunar radiation environment could affect humans

LRO will also create a comprehensive atlas of the moon's features and resources that will be needed as NASA designs and builds a planned lunar outpost The mission will support future human exploration while providing a foundation for upcoming science missions LRO is scheduled for launch in late 2008

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is being built at Goddard The mission also will be managed at the center for NASA's Explorations Systems Mission Directorate in Washington

Send Your Name to the Moon is a collaborative effort among NASA, the Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif , and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md

To send your name to the moon, visit:

http://www nasa gov/lro

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