Do you want to send your name to Mars?

Photo with thanks to:- NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU.

WITH all the interest in Space and Mars, would you like to have your name on the Red Planet? Well 11 million names have made it to Mars on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. As the rover's dramatic touchdown stirred the emotions and imagination of millions of people, it also meant the safe arrival of a tiny silicon chip engraved with names of those who had applied to get their names on it. It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was launched on 30 July 2020. Since 18 February 2021, the Rover is now located within a deep crater near the planet's equator called Jezero.

The Perseverance has been long awaited as it is the 1st time a science mission has gone to Mars with such an advanced set of equipment. This Rover's sophisticated technology is hoped to take our understanding of the Red Planet to the next level. It is the 1st time a robot has been sent to Mars that has the best chance of finding evidence of ancient water.

At this stage, Perseverance's most interesting part of this mission includes a 1.8kg (4lb) helicopter, named Ingenuity. Should that part of the mission succeeds, it will become the 1st aircraft to fly on another planet!

Photo with thanks to:- NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Landing in such a promising location in terms of finding past life, within the rim of the crater in Jezero, the multi billion dollar mission has even more to layers to it. This Rover will keep on giving, as it analyse the surface of Mars to see for e signs of past life, it will pack rocks into small tubes, that will then be left on the surface, but why? Also, why is the California Institute of Technology, on the NASA sight taking names again for another mission?

Ticket - NASA/JPL-Caltech

Well both Nasa and the European Space Agency (Esa) now hope to send a 2nd rover to collect cylinders dropped by Perseverance. Scientists hope another Rover will allow them to collect them and return samples from Mars to Earth! So this is your chance to become part of the next logical step in exploration of Mars, by physically having your name added to the next Rover. The sign up is free and all you need is your email address, post code and your name, Then head on to:- Mars.NASA.Gov to participate.
 

Research Reveals the Impact of Covid19 on Parental Guilt in the UK

RESEARCH has revealed that parents are feeling more guilt than ever before due to the additional pressures caused by the Covid19 Pandemic. Lockdown has placed families under new and unique pressures since restrictions were 1st implemented in March 2020. As a result, almost ¾ of UK parents are feeling additional guilt, despite having no control over the situation. The study, which was conducted amongst parents in the UK by leading name label manufacturer My Nametags, found that parental guilt has become a hallmark of modern parenting which has only been worsened by the Pandemic.

The most common reasons for parents feeling guilty during lockdown are how bored their children are 31%, that 26% said they can't spend time with their relatives and 26% keeping them indoors. 10% of parents even admitted to feeling guilty that they are not enjoying the extra time they are getting to spend with their children.

Home Schooling has also been identified as a key stress, with 25% of parents feeling guilty about not educating their children properly. Government statistics have revealed that over ½ of parents feel that a child in their household is struggling to continue their education while at home, with just over 77% of these parents, attributing this to a lack of motivation. A study by the University of Oxford also confirmed that many parents' own mental health has suffered due to the additional strains of lockdown.

Interestingly, women are more likely to suffer from guilt than men, with mums being afflicted 8 times more per month than dads on average. Beyond the impact of Covid19, the most common cause of parental guilt in the UK is allowing children to have too much screen time, with almost ½ of parents feeling guilty for letting their youngsters spend too much time on their iPads or in front of the TV. This is followed by 33% saying they are not spending enough quality time with their children, 32% not playing with them enough, and 26% not cooking from scratch.

Brits also sweat the small stuff, with some parents reporting feeling guilty about not mending their children's clothes when they are damaged, writing their children's names in their clothing instead of sewing in a name label and not ironing all their clothes. However, the study found that this guilt is often disproportionate. While almost ½ of parents feel guilty about losing their temper, only 38% believe this negatively impacts their children. Similarly, while over a quarter feel guilty about giving their children quick and easy meals, only 14% think this genuinely effects their children's wellbeing, demonstrating that parents even feel guilty about things that they don't believe have an impact on their children.

Commenting on the findings, Parenting Expert Bea Marshall says:- "Guilt is common among all parents and yet it actually makes it harder for us to parent in the ways we aspire. Guilt stems from our fears that how we raise our children may impact their futures. These may be fears about physical and mental health, relationships and social success or financial independence. Our worries may also be related to what others think of us and our children. There is no such thing as a perfect parent, but fears that we are falling short can lead to guilt."

Lars B Andersen, Managing Director at My Nametags, comments:- "At My Nametags, we speak to hundreds of thousands of parents every year. With the current Covid19 Pandemic putting parents under more pressure than ever before, we were interested in exploring the concept of parental guilt. We were intrigued to find that parents feel guilty about a huge number of things, both during the Pandemic and in their normal lives. From not spending enough time with their children, to not ironing their clothes, it is often the small things that parents feel most guilty about. We hope that our research highlights that there is no need for parents to be so hard on themselves, and that opting for convenience, such as using stick on name labels or cooking using pre-prepared ingredients, will not have a negative impact on their children, and may save them an awful lot of stress."

Top 5 most common causes of parental guilt during lockdown:-

1. How bored children are...

2. That children can't spend time with their relatives...

3. Having to keep children indoors...

4. Not home Schooling children properly...

5. Not paying children enough attention when working from home...