So you want to travel into space but cannot spare the US$30 million for a stay on the International Space Station? Well NASA is offering a bargain basement alternative. You can send your name to the Moon for nothing.

All you need to do is add your details at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) web site and print out a certificate. Your details we be added to a database which will be loaded into a chip that will be integrated onto the LRO.

The LRO will create a comprehensive map of the lunar surface and resources, allowing NASA to plan for future permanent settlements on the Moon. It is scheduled for launch late 2008.

"Everyone who sends their name to the moon, like I'm doing, becomes part of the next wave of lunar explorers," said Cathy Peddie, deputy project manager for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Send Your Name to the Moon is a collaboration between NASA, the Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif., and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

Don’t miss out, the deadline for submitting names is Jun. 27, 2008.

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