Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh): A former director of National Mission of Manuscripts and an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, V Venkata Ramana Reddy on Tuesday said that the name of Lord Venkateswara of the famous hill shrine at Tirumala has been stencilled in micro chips and affixed on NASA's Mars 2020 Rover, that would fly to the Red Planet.
"I have submitted the sacred name of Lord Venkateswara and got the souvenir boarding pass in the name of the Lord from the official website of NASA," said Reddy.
The Lord's name would be among 10 million names stencilled on microchips affixed on the Rover, the American space agency said.
The submission of names at the NASA website for the 'Send Your Name to Mars' campaign ended on Tuesday.
"I am a strong supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, and I am delighted to send the name of the ancient and world-famous Tirumala shrine's presiding deity to Mars," he said.
NASA had invited the public to submit their names to fly to the red planet. The mission is scheduled for launch in July 2020, with the spacecraft expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021.
The Rover would search for signs of past microbial life, characterise the planet's climate and geology, collect samples from Mars.
Also read: ISRO has not given up efforts to regain link with lander
