More than 1.35 million names are about to leave Earth without a single person on board. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, set to launch in 2027, will carry a tiny silicon chip etched with those names into deep space. The chip will orbit the Sun at a point about 1 million miles from Earth, riding aboard one of the most powerful space observatories ever built.
A tiny chip with a huge passenger list
The names were collected through NASA's "Send Your Name" campaign, which closed in late 2024. Participants submitted their names online, and NASA then used a specialized electron beam to inscribe them onto a microchip smaller than a penny. The chip will be mounted on the telescope's structure, where it will remain for the mission's lifetime, likely five years or more.
NASA officials said the response was overwhelming, with submissions arriving from every U.S. state and more than 150 countries. The agency did not disclose the full breakdown, but the final count of 1.35 million far exceeded initial expectations. The chip also includes the names of NASA employees and partners who worked on the Roman mission.
Why the Roman Telescope matters
The Roman Telescope is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer, who helped lay the groundwork for the Hubble Space Telescope. The observatory is designed to study dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared light from the early universe. Its wide field of view will allow it to capture images of the cosmos in unprecedented detail.
For the people who submitted their names, the campaign offered a rare chance to be part of that science. The chip will not just sit passively; it will travel with the telescope as it orbits the second Lagrange point, a gravitationally stable spot between Earth and the Sun. From there, Roman will send data back to Earth for years, and the names will remain aboard the entire time.
A personal connection to deep space
Local interest in the campaign was strong, especially in communities with ties to NASA. The agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which manages the Roman mission, hosted public events where visitors could submit their names in person. Schools and science museums across the United States also promoted the campaign, turning it into a classroom activity about space exploration.
NASA has run similar name-carrying campaigns before, including on the Orion spacecraft and the Mars InSight lander. But the Roman mission is different because of its destination. The telescope will not land on a planet or moon. It will drift in deep space, far from any world, carrying the names with it.
The chip is now installed and ready. When Roman launches, the names will begin a journey that will outlast the people who submitted them. For 1.35 million individuals, that is a quiet but permanent place in the history of spaceflight.
