What were you doing when you were 17? I can tell you with confidence I was doing nothing nearly as cool as training to become the first person to ever go to Mars! However, for Alyssa Carson, that's just a regular old Tuesday.
The 17 year old started her training when she was just 14 and while she does attend high school, her work load is a different than her classmates. In fact Alyssa is training to be fluent in four languages!
While she still has a way to go before her and the team leave on their mission ( yes she's not going alone and no NASA isn't sending a teenager to Mars tomorrow ) she will have an opportunity to go to the International Space Station and continue her training amongst the stars.