<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyssa_Carson" class="extiw" title="w:Alyssa Carson">Alyssa Carson</a> in an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet" class="extiw" title="w:McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet">F/A-18</a> cockpit
<ul><li>Some people spend their lives deciding on a career, but for 14-year-old Alyssa Carson the goal has been clear since she was 3 years old – be among the first humans to explore <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars" class="extiw" title="w:Mars">Mars</a>.</li>
<li>She knows that to meet her goal she must work hard, learn everything she can and prepare for steep competition. Carson showed her enthusiasm as she became the first to complete the NASA Passport program <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.visitnasa.com/nasa-visitor-centers">http://www.visitnasa.com/nasa-passport-to-explore-space</a> started in 2013 that required visiting all of the NASA's 14 visitor centers and having a "passport" stamped at each location.</li>
<li>As part of Carson's passport journey, she came to NASA <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Flight_Research_Center" class="extiw" title="w:Armstrong Flight Research Center">Armstrong Flight Research Center</a> on Edwards Air Force Base California in 2013, but it was during the government shutdown. Recently she returned to see what she missed.</li>
<li>"I think after visiting these places and seeing these different things it helps show me what we can do and what the rockets can accomplish and how far we can go," Carson said of her journey. "It also has taught me where we are today and where we are going. It motivates me to work even harder."</li>
<li>To recognize her achievement as the first person to complete the passport program, she was granted a special tour of NASA Armstrong. The best part of her visit was a rare opportunity to sit in an F/A-18 cockpit.</li>
<li>"It was a little intimidating and a little scary because I was sitting in a jet. It was really neat that it wasn't a simulator. It was the real deal. Just being able to see the systems and getting to punch a few buttons, it was a lot of fun and really cool."</li></ul>
NASA/Tom Tschida
Taken on 6 May 2015, 10:49
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/mars_generation.html">https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/mars_generation.html</a>