While normal people have no say in who goes to space and not, they can now name the ones who do. NASA as a part of its “Name the Artemis Moonikin Challenge” has asked social media users to name the mannequin who is all set to go to the moon this November. The mannequin will be part of the agency’s Artemis I moon mission.

NASA’s Artemis I moon mission will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on the moon. However, the commander seat of this spacecraft will be taken up by a mannequin, who will be outfitted with two radiation sensors and a first-generation Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit.

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While the technical intricacies of the mission will be taken care of by NASA itself, the responsibility to name the newest space commander has been given to us. 

Users who are interested to take part in the activity will have to pick from eight options. According to the agency’s recent press release, the options are the following.

1- ACE: “Straightforward, practical. Stands for Artemis Crew Explorer.”

2- CAMPOS: “Resourceful, problem-solver. A dedication to Arturo Campos, a key player in bringing Apollo 13 home.”

3- DELOS: “Nostalgic, romantic. The island where Apollo and Artemis were born, according to Greek myth.”

4- DUHART: “Warm, welcoming. A dedication to Irene Duhart Long, (the first female and first minority) chief medical officer at Kennedy Space Center.”

5- MONTGOMERY: “Pioneer, innovative. A dedication to Julius Montgomery, first African American to work at the Cape Canaveral Space Facility as a technical professional.”

6- RIGEL: “Bright, inspirational. The giant superstar in the Orion constellation.”

7- SHACKLETON: “Secretive, abundant. A crater on the Moon’s south pole and a reference to a famous Antarctic explorer.”

8- WARGO: “Enthusiastic, passionate. A dedication to Michael Wargo, the agency’s first Chief Exploration Scientist.”

However, this is not the first time NASA has crowdsourced the name of its space device. US Mars Rover ‘Perseverance’ had also derived its name from a national contest. The contest was won by a 7th-grade student from Virginia, Alexander Maher.