Green Day take a 300 million mile journey to the surface of Mars

Yesterday, NASA’s latest mission to Mars touched down on the red planet to begin a new round of scientific experiments.

The InSight probe launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California back in May and travelled 300 million miles to the Martian surface, where it will soon begin studying the interior of the planet to discover how celestial bodies with rocky surfaces are formed.

And talking of rock, it’s been reported that Green Day now have a presence on the planet, as the band's name was etched on to a chip on the Mars lander, giving the red planet a green tinge... sort of.

The band posted a picture on Facebook with the caption: “Officially landed on Mars. ‘Green Day Since 1986’ was etched on a chip on the NASA InSight lander that landed at Elysium Planitia today. Out of this world.”

But Green Day aren’t the first name to leave the confines of Earth and make their way into the inky darkness. Both the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts – which launched in 1977 – contain a golden record featuring images, sounds and spoken greetings from Earth.

Along with a selection of music, including classical pieces and traditional songs, is Chuck Berry’s 1958 classic Johnny B. Goode.

The Voyager crafts are still travelling through space and are both now more than 11,000,000,000 miles from Earth.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.