I’m pretty sure that’s an idea most parents have during difficult times with their kids (homeschooling I’m looking at you!) However on this occasion it’s a good thing, I actually sent my daughter to Mars, but forgot, oops.
Obviously I didn’t send her in person, but a few years ago NASA gave people the opportunity to send names of explorers into space on the next mission to Mars. Being a newish dad at the time, with a keen interest in space, I filled out the forms in her name and then forgot all about it.
Last week with the fantastic news of the successful landing of the Perseverance rover and the accompanying news stories, this one in particular triggered a memory, and remembered I had applied to send my daughter’s name to Mars too, long before the rover had been named Perseverance.
I managed to login and retrieve her “boarding pass” to show her, as well as the three silicon squares her name was etched onto.
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her name had been sent millions of miles to a different planet, pretty hard for me as an adult to get my head around, let alone a 6 year old. We have been looking up all things, space and Mars quite a bit of this morning.
Well done NASA, it’s things like this that really get children’s imagination’s whiring. We’re already signed up for the next flight, due for launch 2026. https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/future