Alyssa Carson | |
|---|---|
 Alyssa Carson in 2015 | |
| Born | March 10, 2001 Hammond, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Education | Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Florida Institute of Technology (BS) |
| Website | nasablueberry |
Alyssa Carson (born March 10, 2001) is an American space enthusiast who has attended numerous space camps and has visited every NASA visitor center. [1] She has been profiled by a variety of news outlets, public interest publications, and interview shows as an unofficial astronaut-in-training.
Carson was born on March 10, 2001, in Hammond, Louisiana. [2] She graduated from Baton Rouge International School, a pre-school through 12th grade private school, in 2019.[ citation needed ]
Carson attended her first space camp in Huntsville, Alabama at age seven and went on to attend six more. [3] [4] She remains the only person to attend every NASA space camp offered including those in Turkey and Canada. [5] [6] She also attended a Sally Ride Summer Camp at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. [7]
Her "NASA Blueberry" branding used on her website and social media platforms is based on the call sign she selected at space camp. [3] [8]
At 16, she participated in the Advanced PoSSUM (Project Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) Space Academy. [9] At 18, Carson earned her pilot's license. [10] Her training has also included water survival, g force training, micro gravity flights, obtaining scuba certification, and decompression training. [11] [12]
Carson attended classes focused on space physiology at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University. [13] As of 2023, she received her bachelor's degree in astrobiology from the Florida Institute of Technology. [14]
In 2013, Carson was the first person to complete the "NASA Passport Program" visiting each of NASA's fourteen visitor centers across nine states. She was then invited to be a panelist at the MER (Mars Exploration Rover) 10 Panel at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. [15] In she was featured as the Youngest Female Groundbreaker on the Steve Harvey talk show. She was featured in the 2017 documentary The Mars Generation . [16] [17]
Carson self-published So, You Want to Be an Astronaut (2018) [18] about her passion for space flight, and has written for The Independent . [19]
While frequently described by the media as an "astronaut in training", [20] [10] Carson is not affiliated with any national space program. [21] [22] NASA has publicly stated that the organization "has no official ties to Alyssa Carson", [22] and separately that "although Ms. Carson uses ‘NASA' in her website name and Twitter and Instagram handles, we’re not affiliated at all." [23] In 2019 Newsweek corrected a headline that had implied that Carson's training was affiliated with NASA. [9] Snopes.com also has dedicated a page to clarify such claims, which says: "Carson is not in training with—or being prepped by—NASA to become an astronaut, or to take part in the first human mission to Mars." [24]
In 2019, Carson appeared on an episode of Ryan's Mystery Playdate . [25] She is also frequently interviewed to discuss her childhood goal of becoming an astronaut and traveling to Mars. [20] [10] She has been involved with several space-related products, including "space luggage" designed by Horizn Studios, and participated in testing Final Frontier Design's spacesuit for the Canadian Space Agency headquarters. [26] [27] She promotes footwear for Nike and home appliances for SodaStream. [28]
In 2017, Carson was named one of nine Louisiana Young Heroes, an award given to exceptional high school students by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. [29] In 2019, she received the LSU Women's Center Esprit de Femme Award, and is the youngest recipient of the award to date. [30] She was honored by Louisiana Life magazine as a 2020 Louisianan of the Year in the science category. [31] In 2022, she received the Florida Institute of Technology's Student Catalyst Award, highlighting women's participation and development in the school's community. [32]
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