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.
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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]
I need one of these for myself. I know hella rocks and will probably be the lead of the smithsonian or something if I become a geologist someday.
edit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-carson-87b874152 Can someone with a Linkedin account confirm that she doesn't actually have any work experience whatsoever? I think that part might be hidden for me but I only see bullshit awards, her own org about wanting to be an astronaut when she grows up, volunteering one day per year at space camp, and inspirational articles from 2018 about how she wants to be an astronaut when she wants to grow up. There's no "internship at [legitimate company]" which is a required class for any BS degree at my university.
About the LinkedIn section, from what I can see the only “traditional” work experience listed is modeling/ad/marketing partnerships with multiple brands, most are brands I don’t know from the top of my head. Taking it at face value, it’s a pretty good start on that field, and she is definitely doing the most to prop her up as an inevitable astronaut. Who knows, she might get access to some tangible opportunities by pure pressure/exposure.
Even that just strikes me as grifting on par with the TedX speeches about how she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up and the book about how to be an astronaut when you grow up. There was another person on the sidebar whose bio started out "Aspiring astronaut | Former intern at Boeing and NASA" which is what you'd expect from anyone remotely serious about it.
Oh it absolutely reeks of grift, I agree.