We invite you to suggest a name for our next mission, which is scheduled for launch on June 21, 2013.  The winner of the contest will receive a mission patch that we have flown in space, together with a certificate of authenticity!

This launch will occur from Spaceport America, New Mexico, the site of each of our previous Earth Rise Service missions. We will fly cremated remains into space and return them to Earth: After the mission, the flight capsule or module that carried a loved one into space and back again is returned to the family, with the ashes still sealed inside. We will once again fly on board an UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL launch vehicle.

If you’re interested in the mission-naming contest, it might help you to consider the names of our previous memorial spaceflights.  We called our first mission “The Founders Flight.”  Our December 1999 mission was called “The Millennial Flight.”  And our last Earth Rise mission — “The Goddard Flight” — was named after the father of American space exploration, Dr. Robert Goddard, who performed much of his pioneering aerospace work in New Mexico.

Consider the venue — Spaceport America.  It’s a new launch facility that will serve as the headquarters of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism company.  It’s also located near the White Sands Missile Range, where so much space history has been made.

Be creative!  If you have a suggestion, please contact us!  The contest deadline is July 4, 2012.

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UPDATE (July 12): Aleta Duvall has won the contest!  The name of our next Earth Rise mission is The Centennial Flight, named in honor of the 100th anniversary of New Mexico’s statehood.  For her winning entry, Aleta will receive a Centennial Flight mission patch that will be flown on the mission.  Congratulations Aleta!  (And thanks to everyone who suggested names for the mission!)