Alyssa Carson, 13, plans to be the first person on Mars

Alyssa Carson really wants to be the first person on Mars.

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The 13-year-old Baton Rouge, Louisiana, girl is so determined to make the epic trip that she’s already in training for it — and has been for the past nine years.

”I want to go to Mars because it is a place nobody has been. it is really deserted right now so I want to take that first step,” she said.

"I think that I have a high chance of going to Mars basically because I’ve been training for nine years so far. As I get older and continue to do more things the resume will just get longer and hopefully help me stand out and help me look unique compared to other people."

She’s already the first person to have attended all of NASA’s space camps in the world and visited all 14 NASA visitor centres in the U.S. She’s also witnessed three space shuttle launches so far.

Carson can speak English, Spanish, French, Chinese and some Turkish, and gives motivational talks to other space-loving kids about pursuing their dreams.

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“I don’t want one obstacle in the way to stop me from going to Mars,” she said in a BBC short film. “Failure is not an option.”

Fortunately for Carson, NASA is taking her determination seriously. She even has a call sign at the space agency: “Blueberry.”

"She is of the perfect age to one day become an astronaut and eventually travel to Mars," Paul Foreman from the space agency told the BBC. “She is doing the right thing, she is doing the right training, taking all the right steps to actually become an astronaut.”

Currently, Carson is an ambassador with Mars One, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to establish the first human colony on Mars.

Carson’s father, Bret, said they have the next 20 years of work planned out.

"We have the next 20 years planned out, we know what she’s doing, she’s looking at going on a mission to Mars in 2033," he said, admitting that there’s the possibility she wouldn’t return from a mission to the red planet.

"In 20 years I may not ever see her again, there are options out there where they go to Mars and not come back, and we’ve had those discussions, and if that’s the only option she still wants to go."

In the meantime, Alyssa hopes to study at Cambridge, complete a master’s at the International Space University in France, and then obtain a doctorate in astrophysics or astrobiology — after she finishes the seventh grade.

Watch the BBC Magazine short film on Carson here.