Going to the outer space is a dream of many. The vast universe has so much to explore, and scientists are concentrating on various missions to be launched in the space. One of the missions is a manned spacecraft to Mars. A 17-year old, who is highly interested in the space world could be among the first ones to step on the red planet. Alyssa Carlson is training to be an astronaut that too with the best. NASA is preparing the 17-year old from Louisiana for a very ambitious mission of visiting Mars. NASA Has Sent 20 Mice in Space to Study if Humans Can Live on Mars. 

Carlson is the youngest girl to be accepted on this program, but the girl has an interest and hard work put behind her which has got her this spot. She was only three when she had her aim of being an astronaut very clear before herself. Her father then enrolled her into the United States Space Camp in 2008. Since then she has attended several space camps and academies, graduated from multiple space flight programs. She is the first person to visit all 14 NASA Visitor Centers in the USA, securing herself the NASA Passport.

Carlson has graduated from the Advanced PoSSUM Academy which gives the official permit to fly into space. Not just Mars but if there is any other mission in the next couple of years, she could become the first teenager in space, informed her father in a magazine. But the girl has her big ambition in mind to be the youngest one on Mars. In Teen Vogue, she was quoted, "This red planet is so cool, I started watching videos of rovers landing on Mars. I had a gigantic map of Mars in my room I would look at. We started getting telescopes so we could look at space."

Her journey to Mars is not an easy one although she has so much training. She will have to complete a professional certificate in applied astronautics. All her training programmes are lined up. In September she will be training in Iceland about geology. While it sounds too fancy, Carlson's dedication is to a level that she is ready for levels of training one after another. She even has her plans about what she would do, once she steps on the red planet. She aims to "be the Mission Specialist and study the rocks, soil, and look for bacterial life in the steam and water” on Mars. All the technical know-how already on her side, she is very positive about the 2033 mission. And given her understanding and clearing all the programmes like a pro, we do not doubt, Alyssa Carlson making it on Mars.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 05:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).