Ryan is going to space, and so can you!

OSIRIS-REx is a space mission by the University of Arizona, NASA, and Lockheed Martin to collect samples from asteroid 101955 Bennu. The spacecraft will be launched in 2016 and the Sample Return Capsule will come back to Earth in 2023.

Anyway, recently they have allowed people to submit their names to be engraved on a microchip that will be on the sample return capsule and spacecraft. It's a similar situation to Stardust back in 99.

From the website:

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and The Planetary Society invite you to submit your name for a round-trip ride to asteroid Bennu. Your name will hitch a ride to the asteroid, spend 500 days there, and return in the Sample Return Capsule to Earth in 2023.

Plus your name will be on the spacecraft, which will remain in space long after returning the sample return capsule to Earth.

You can sign up here: http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/messages/bennu/

My first thought was to sign up in honor of Ryan. I am Certificate #00051793, with the name Ryan "Taswell" Davis. Long after the world is blown up by aliens or t-rexs in spaceships, Ryan's name will be on some far off asteroid, floating through space.

That's really cool man. Great way to honor him.

sounds dumb

Exactly! I think microchips on asteroids ranks right up there with pies in toilets for Ryan.

Dang, that's cool. I like it.

Stellar.

Far Out.

Seems perhaps a bit weird to put someone else's name on something like this.

He's already up there.

This was my thoughts....all though I never know what is appropriate, this stuff can get weird because everyone has different opinions on what is acceptable. Your heart is in the right place though :)

Man - the RotJ clip still crushes me. I miss that duder.

In all the right ways.

That's awesome man. Definitely sign up. Great tribute to an even better Duder.

this

this guy gets it

That's cool but I think we should all pitch in to strap a microSD onto that chip which will be filled with videos that Ryan participated in. I mean I cannot think of a better way to summarize human culture as a whole than a video of Ryan Davis laughing maniacally at a buring pile of money.

Could you imagine? Being an alien and finding an SD card full of just videos he has done, how fucking confused would you be by this strange man with eyewear Roasting this green salad and seems quite happy about it.

Sounds like a badass idea!

I did this for myself a couple days ago. It's corny, but a cool way to get people interested in what NASA is doing. Since mapping and returning part of an asteroid to Earth apparently isn't interesting on it's own. Nobody will ever see it, but who wouldn't want their name in space forever?! It even gives you a certificate with Bill Nye's digital signature (he runs the Planetary Society). It's legit. As far as putting Ryan's name on it, I'm sure the community will be split down the middle. I don't see how it would hurt anything. There will probably be a few hundred thousand names going up by the time this is over (I was in the first 2000, and 12 hours ago OP said he was 51793). We wouldn't be the only people putting up a name other than their own, I'm sure. There's gotta be at least 100 by now that say "boobies" or "penis".