BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Mars Frequent Flyer Club

Attention, space enthusiasts! Although NASA isn't going to take anybody to Mars any time soon, you can send your name to Mars, and collect frequent flyer points. I tried it out and now have 297,805,305 miles, though they are for the InSight mission which hasn't gone anywhere yet.

It's easy to do - all ages can participate. But the deadline for registration is September 8, 2015 (11:59 p.m. ET). Over 440,000 people have signed up so far. Here's the link: Mars Frequent Flyer Club Geeks and kids might enjoy it.

This is a map to show participation from around the world and a list of countries with the numbers of people who've put their names down.

It's fascinating. The USA is at the top of the list, not surprisingly, but that there are interested people in countries and islands that only stamp collectors and geographers know about.

There's even one person from Niue. I admit my ignorance here, so I looked it up - it's 2400 km (1500 mi) west of New Zealand and its website says that it's "one of the world’s safest destinations and one of the few countries in the world where crime is almost unheard of. It’s also free of any harmful animals or insects!" Sounds great, but I'd hate the flights needed to get there.

NASA's InSight mission to Mars will be a geophysical lander equipped to study the deeper geological processes of the red planet. You can learn more about the mission on the InSight website.

And a reminder that if you or your kids or a friend want to be a part of the mission, it's easy to sign up to have your name go to Mars. You can sign up to the Frequent Flyers here.

The deadline is Tuesday September 8 11.59 PM EST.

Okay, I'm game! lol

Yay, Allyson! We'll be off to Mars together next year! Well, our names will be. I think I can deal with that level of commitment.