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Nasa: Moon traveller needs a name, can you help?

two Nasa mannequins on a nasa space shipNASA

Nasa has used dummies to test streeses and strains during space flight many times before

Nasa is heading for the Moon, and the scientists running the mission need your help.

The Artemis I mission will be an unmanned trip around the Moon to help test the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft.

But when Nasa says unmanned, they don't mean un-Moonikined.

That's right, Nasa are sending a manikin, or in this case, Moonikin, on the ship to see how a human body will cope with the strains of being fired into space.

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Nasa explains: "The manikin on Artemis I will be equipped with two radiation sensors, and sensors in the seat - one under the headrest and another behind the seat - to record acceleration and vibration throughout the mission as Orion travels around the Moon and back to Earth.

"Data from these and other sensors inside the spacecraft will help NASA understand how to best protect crew members for Artemis II and beyond."

One small step for Moonikin kind

NASA

An artist's concept of the ARTEMIS spacecraft in orbit around the Moon.

That all sounds like important work, but you can't ask a manikin to do all those jobs and not even give it a name!

So, Nasa has come up with a competition to pick a name for this brave, inanimate, space explorer - people are being asked to vote for their favourite on social media.

But before you get carried away you can't vote for Steve Rodgers, Carol Danvers or even Martin Dougan!

And you especially can't call it Moony McMoonface. The names in the running are:

Which name is your favourite?

• ACE: Straightforward, practical. Stands for Artemis Crew Explorer.

• CAMPOS: Resourceful, problem-solver. A dedication to Arturo Campos, key player in bringing Apollo 13 home.

• DELOS: Nostalgic, romantic. The island where Apollo and Artemis were born, according to Greek myth.

• DUHART: Warm, welcoming. A dedication to Irene Duhart Long, chief medical officer at Kennedy Space Center.

• MONTGOMERY Pioneer, innovative. A dedication to Julius Montgomery, first African American to work at the Cape Canaveral Space Facility as a technical professional.

• RIGEL Bright, inspirational. The giant superstar in the Orion constellation.

• SHACKLETON Secretive, abundant. A crater on the Moon's south pole and a reference to a famous Antarctic explorer.

• WARGO Enthusiastic, passionate. A dedication to Michael Wargo, the agency's first Chief Exploration Scientist.

Nasa has decided to run a 'bracket competition' online to decide the name - that means it is like an FA Cup-style knock out competition.

NASA

Who else is going?

The main Moonikin is a male-based model that has previously been used in other tests of the Orion.

The model will be accompanied by two other replicas of human bodies, called phantoms, which recreate human bones and tissue and female organs.

These have already been named, Zohar and Helga, and are being leant to the mission by the Israeli Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center.

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