'Global selfie' to send Earth's self-portrait into space

A "global selfie" project that aims to send a special message from earth to space via NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has been approved by the US space agency.

NASA has agreed to set aside 100 MB data for the crowdsourced self-portrait of Earth on the New Horizons probe that will fly by Pluto in 2015 on its way out of the solar system.

Currently, the New Horizons spacecraft is not carrying any information about Earth.

Led by Hawaii-based artist Jon Lomberg, the "One Earth" project aims to beam pictures, sounds and other data representing human beings to NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.

Lomberg now wants people from around the world to submit photos and other forms of media online.

Lomberg and his team also want to include images that reveal the dark side of Earth such as pictures of famine or the atomic bomb, media reports said.