"Scotty" won't be involved, but nearly 90,000 space-hopeful earthlings will be "beamed up" to the Red Planet Friday in a first-ever chance to reach out to deepest space and voice their hopes for further exploration.
Reminiscent of Star Trek's futuristic transporter device, messages, names, and photos will be "beamed up" to Mars at the speed of light by radio telescope by the telemetry and tracking firm Universal Space Network (USN) in a "digital shout-out" to the stars,
NBC News reports.
No one on Mars will be paying any attention, of course, since there is no one on Mars, but messages will either hang around the Red Planet, bypass it to shoot off into the depths of the solar system or reflect off Mars' surface and arrive back on Earth, just 30 minutes after they left,
space funding firm Uwingu notes.
The "Beam Me To Mars" project is being launched by Uwingu, which means "sky" in Swahili, with the hopes that it will raise money for various private space exploration efforts back home on Earth.
While none of the Star Trek cast will be flying in particles through space, original series veteran actor George Takei, who played the Starship Enterprise's helmsman, Mr. Sulu, has sent a message, along with other celebrities and space luminaries such as actor Seth Green, Chris Hadfield, former international space station commander, Homer Hickam, author of ""Rocket Boys" and "October Sky," Bill Nye, "The Science Guy," Tariq Malik, managing editor of Space.com, and Lori Garver, former NASA deputy administrator, NBC reports.
The messages will be sent by high-powered commercial space transmitters and,
USN reports on its website, they will travel at the speed of light, or 1 million bits per second.
"Mariner 4 took almost eight months to reach Mars in 1964-65, but your 21st century messages will arrive just 15 minutes after they are sent," USN states.
Messages also will be archived and sent to members of Congress, NASA and the United Nations.
Uwingu has set a goal of raising $10 million to help support private space exploration groups, such as Astronomers Without Borders, the Galileo Teacher Training Program, the Multiethnic Training Program of Purdue, the Allen Telescope Array of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), the International Dark Sky Association, and the University of Colorado's Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.
Uwingu also has launched a "People's Map of Mars" project in which individuals can name Mars landmarks for a fee. Over 12,000 craters have been named so far, allowing Uwingu to set aside $100,000 to fund programs.
Uwingu's CEO, Alan Stem, former NASA science chief, said, "We want it to inspire people. There has never been an opportunity before for people of Earth to shout out across the solar system their hopes and wishes for space exploration, for the future of mankind, for any of that.
"We want to make an impression on leaders."
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