Mission To MARS! 15-Year-Old Alyssa Carson Could Be The First Human On Mars

Mission To MARS! 15-Year-Old Alyssa Carson Could Be The First Human On Mars... "I first got interested in space when I was really young. Obviously, I don't remember everything when I was that young, but my dad does remember me coming and having some questions about space and about Mars," Alyssa told Hack.Show more

When she was growing up, Alyssa loved space camps. In 2014, she was the first ever person to complete the "NASA Passport Program" visiting each of NASA's fourteen visitor centers across nine states.

"I had originally gone to the space camp in Huntsville, Alabama, in the US. They had someone from Space Camp Turkey...it sounded pretty exciting to go over to Space Turkey. So I ended up doing that...It was much more international. And that was really exciting, I was the only American there. I think we had kids from like 15 different countries."

Alyssa enjoyed travelling the world whilst learning about her number one passion and meeting like minded people from various places. She says Space Camp was "heavily emphasized on international friendship"

So...how do you actually become an astronaut?
Short answer: It's actually a super competitive field to get into and it takes a lot of hard work, but it is possible, according to Alyssa.

"To be able to actually apply as an astronaut, I need a master's degree and then some work experience. It's pretty tough competition, I guess. But also, there's a lot of stuff to keep in mind when you do apply. If you aren't selected, it may have nothing to do with your resume or anything about you, there's a lot of stuff that goes into the consideration of it.

"Typically, like 18,000 people apply, and only about 12 to 20 people get selected."

Working in the space industry is a pretty tough gig, but if you're passionate and want to be involved, there are a heap of great opportunities such as the psychology aspect, catering food, and also journalism.