WASHINGTON – U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said today he has submitted the names of all committee members and staff to be placed aboard the Parker Solar Probe, a “mission to touch the Sun,” that will launch this summer. NASA opened to the public this spring an opportunity to submit names that will be stored on a memory card and installed on the probe before it launches.

Chairman Smith: “When NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launches and begins its long journey to the sun this summer, it will have on board the names of the Science Committee members, personal office staff and committee staff. This probe is the first of its kind and will provide the closest observations of the Sun that humankind has ever achieved.

“We all take our responsibilities on the Science Committee seriously, and when I came across NASA’s unique offer, I thought this would be a perfect and light-hearted opportunity to carve the names of the members and staff in history. Who knows—maybe each of these names will be etched on the sun!”

Each individual received a certificate memorializing the inclusion of their name on the probe’s microchip. NASA announced that the probe will carry over 1.1 million names.

Chairman Smith’s letter can be found here.

You can read more about the mission at http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/index.php.