<% rating = 2 %>CNN is reporting that 616,400 signatures were carried to Saturn by Cassini, a space probe. Amongst the signatures were Patrick Stewart and Chuck Norris… I know you are asking why… I am… this is the reason they’re giving: “Planetary Society officials solicited the signatures as a way to bring attention to the space mission. Signatures were received from 81 countries, and the society spent months sorting, counting and scanning them at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The project harkens back to the early days of space exploration, according to Charley Kohlhase, Cassini’s mission design manager and an adviser to The Planetary Society.

‘A signature is just as unique as a fingerprint, and back in the 1950s, even when JPL was conducting just rocket launches, engineers would often write their names with a grease pencil somewhere on the skin of the vehicle or inside,’ Kohlhase said.”

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