In a bid to make NASA’s relationship with the public more interactive than ever before, the space agency launched an  extensive social media campaign centered around the  test launch of the Orion spacecraft on December 4. The campaign included YouTube videos starring actors from beloved science-fiction TV shows, and option for members of the public to put their names aboard the space vehicle and social events at nine NASA facilities.

These are just some of the ways NASA has reached out to the public in anticipation of Orion’s launch.”This is certainly one of our biggest campaigns that we’ve done,” John Yembrick, NASA’s social media manager, told Space.com

The space agency will also host a social event,on Wednesday (Dec. 3) at the Kennedy Space Center where registered attendees will get a glimpse inside the space agency and the Orion spacecraft test flight. Yembrick said they are anticipating about 130 to 150 guests. Similar events will take place at eight other NASA sites around the United States.

The Orion spacecraft was designed and built to take humans farther into space than ever before— potentially to an asteroid and Mars . The mission is scheduled launch at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT) on Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. As per the information provided by NASA, the Orion spacecraft will orbit the Earth twice and reach an altitude of 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Its target drop zone is approximately 600 miles (966 km) southwest of San Diego, California.This microchip on board the spacecraft carries more than a million names submitted by the public to fly aboard NASA’s Orion test flight on Dec. 4, 2014.The project was part of NASA’s social outreach project, and the chip will be part of NASA’s journey to Mars.