NASA Can Take Your Name to Titan in '28 Dragonfly Mission

Published 10/29/2026 at 8:58 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) - Climb aboard Earth's first real mission to Titan. Well, your name go along, anyway. (Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL)

NASA is inviting the public to become part of a historic deep-space mission to an alien world by sending their names aboard the Dragonfly rotorcraft, which is scheduled to launch in 2028 on a journey to Saturn's moon Titan.

The "Journey to Titan" campaign allows members of the public to submit their names, which will be placed on a microchip carried by Dragonfly as it explores Titan's surface from the air. Participants will also receive a personalized digital boarding pass commemorating their role in the mission.

"NASA's Dragonfly mission will simply blow your mind," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "By flying the first-ever rotorcraft science mission, NASA will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan, as we search for signs of habitability on a distant world that is most similar to our own. We are excited to bring humanity along for the journey of a lifetime, and we invite everyone to send their names on this small, but mighty rotorcraft that will unlock the secrets of the universe in what is widely considered one of the most exciting space missions of our lifetime."

Someone at Oregon Coast Beach Connection already has his "boarding pass."

The public can sign up to have their names included on the microchip through 11:59 p.m. EST on Jan. 15, 2027, at: https://go.nasa.gov/dragonfly-names

Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Currently under construction at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, Dragonfly is designed to be the first airborne science mission on another world. After launching in 2028, the spacecraft is expected to arrive at Titan in 2034.

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, features a thick atmosphere, vast organic-rich landscapes, methane rivers and lakes, and towering sand dunes. Scientists believe it may offer valuable clues about prebiotic chemistry, the chemical processes that preceded life on Earth.

The rest of the solar system, seen from the Oregon coast at Bandon. Photo Manuela Durson - Manuela Durson Fine Arts

Unlike traditional planetary landers that remain near a single landing site, Dragonfly will use rotor-powered flight to travel miles across Titan's surface during its planned 3.3-year mission. The craft is expected to make a flight every one to two Titan days, known as a Tsol, which lasts about 16 Earth days.

By traveling between multiple destinations, including dune fields and Selk Crater, Dragonfly will collect and analyze surface samples using a suite of onboard scientific instruments. Researchers hope the mission will help reveal whether the building blocks necessary for life exist elsewhere in the solar system.

The public outreach effort continues a long-standing NASA tradition of flying names on spacecraft. Similar "name-on-a-chip" campaigns have accompanied previous missions, including the agency's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, which carried the names of more than 10 million participants on tiny silicon chips attached to the rover.

Dragonfly is being designed and built under the direction of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which leads the mission for NASA. The mission's principal investigator is Elizabeth Turtle of APL. Dragonfly is the fourth mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

More information about the Dragonfly mission is available at: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dragonfly/

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