Alyssa Carson, a 22-year-old astronaut trainee, is turning the fantasy of space travel into a reality while most of us can only imagine it.
The aspirational kid from Louisiana has always had her
"heart set on the stars" since she was a young child. She informed
her father, when she was just 3 years old, "Daddy, I want to be an
astronaut, and I want to be one of the people that go to Mars."
She has kept her pledge, and is already putting in the hard
work necessary to join NASA's first human journey to Mars in 2033.
Carson is the youngest individual to ever graduate from the
Advanced Space Academy, among a long list of other achievements. She is the
first person in the world to have finished all three NASA Space Camps (Turkey,
Canada, and the United States).
She is also the first and only person to visit all 14 of
NASA's visitor centres, which are spread out over nine different states in the
United States.
She accepted an invitation from NASA TV in January 2013 to
participate in a panel discussion about MER 10 in Washington, DC. She was
subsequently selected as one of seven ambassadors for Mars One, a mission to
launch the first habitation of humans on the planet in 2033.
The NASA is now training this awesome 22-year-old astronaut.
Amazingly, Carson has found the time to pursue a standard education. The four
languages she is now taking in school are English, Chinese, French, and
Spanish.
The biggest [problem] is time and managing everything at
such a young age while still going to high school, she says.
I will face further challenges if I continue training at
such a young age, but I've done well so far.
Carson is a public speaker when she's not working out or
studying. She says, "Always follow your dream and don't let anyone take it
from you," in an effort to inspire other young people to do the same.