One lakh Indians sign up for next Nasa mission to Mars

Around 1,38,899 Indians have signed up to travel to Mars in May 2018. The flight to the red planet is going to be via Nasa's InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission. According to a report in Times Of India, the selected candidates have been sent 'boarding passes' for the mission.

Several Indians applied when Nasa called for names for its mission to Mars. The total number of names received by Nasan from all over the world is 2,429,807.

In fact, India ranks the third in the global list with regards to the number of names submitted from a single country. At the top is America, which does not come as a surprise considering it's a Nasa mission. At the second position is China which sent 2,62,752 names and India stands third. 

India and China's name in the top three countries is a matter of significance, according to space experts. They attributed India's growing interest in space mission due to the country's recent Mangalyaan mission as well as strengthening of India-Us space ties. 

The mission will take flight in May 2018 and is scheduled to land in Mars on November 26, 2018. The deadline to submit names was till last week. 

Nasa states that InSight's role is not only to study Mars, but also to gain broader insight into the formation of rocky planets in the entire solar system.