I am sure at one point during your childhood you have always dreamed of flying to outer space, only for most of us, we grew out of that dream once we became older. That was not the case for 19-year-old Alyssa Carson. She is the only person who has attended every NASA space camp and eventually graduated from the Advanced Space Academy program at the age of 16. She is a part of a small group of people who are positioning themselves to be a part of NASA’s next space exploration.
Alyssa has had the dream of flying to Mars since she was just three years old. It was an episode from the TV show “The Backyardigans” that inspired her at just a young age. When she was just 12 years old, she was invited to NASA to talk about her big interest in Mars. She considers herself and her other “science geek” friends as part of the “Mars generation.” What she means by this is that it is a group of people her age who are interested in science and space, and she considers Mars as the new moon.
How she became so inspired at such a young age to become an astronaut was by her role models she looked up to throughout her life. She mainly looked up to other female astronauts as inspiration, particularly former astronaut Sandra Magnus. She met Sandra at a career day that was for young women who were interested in science and technology. Magnus also told Carson that she was interested in becoming an astronaut at a very young age and this sort of pushed Carson into believing that it did not matter how old you were to decide a career path and it also pushed her into working hard towards her dreams.
After Carson finished up her degree in astrobiology, she plans on applying for NASA’s astronaut applications whenever they put them out, which is every couple of years. She has a personal goal of being in space by the time she is in her 30s, but she really just hopes to contribute in any way she can to the space program, whether that means she is helping with work on Earth for the mission to Mars or being on the mission itself.
Works Cited
Secon, Holly. “Insider.” A 19-year-old aspiring astronaut is the only person who's attended every NASA space camp. She's already positioning herself for a mission to Mars., 12
July 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-inspires-new-generation-of-astronauts-alyssa-carson-2020-7. Accessed 22 March 2021.
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