Mars mission: Could US girl, 13, be first on red planet?

Alyssa Carson has big dreams. At the age of 13 she is determined to be the first person to land on Mars.

But this is more than wishful thinking - Nasa thinks she stands a chance and she is already in training.

Alyssa is studying science and several languages and became the first person to attend all three of Nasa's world space camps. Her call sign at the US space agency is "Blueberry".

The teenager from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says failure is not an option. And her father says he has the next 20 years of work planned out.

Produced by the BBC's Jane O'Brien and Peter Murtaugh

BBC Pop Up will be based in Baton Rouge all of October. You can tell the team what stories we should be reporting on and find out more about the project via the behind-the-scenes blog, external.

  • Subsection
  • Published