Abigail Harrison Wants To Be the First Astronaut On Mars!

Since she was 5 years old, Minnesota native Abigail Harrison has wanted to be an astronaut. Now she's 15, and with the help of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, is well on her way to achieving her goal!

Abigail has set her sights high. She wants to be the first astronaut to go to Mars. She's even set a date: 2030.

Abigail was first inspired by science fiction and space films like Star Wars. As she grew up, she focused her efforts science technology, engineering, and math. They were the subjects she'd need if she wanted to grow up to be an astronaut.

When Abigail Harrison was in the 8th grade, she did a school project about the International Space station. Her mom helped her to create a Twitter account, which she used to get in touch with NASA employees. From there, she started sharing her dreams about space travel.

Fate struck when she met astronaut Luca Parmitano while waiting to get through security at the airport. For an hour, Abigail told him about her ambitions. The chat paid off.

"My next adventure… will take me to a different part of the world and give me an opportunity to see something amazing," Abigail Harrison announced in a video diary. "On May 28, 2013, I will be attending a Russian Soyuz launch as a guest of my mentor."

Abigail will share the experience using blogs and Skype chats with classrooms across the United States. She has her own website named after her nickname, "Astronaut Abby," which details her adventures.

Today, April 26, you can tune into her Google+ Hangout with Luca at 11:00AM PST! Click here to sign up!

"The curiosity of the unknown is why I'm focused on Mars." There is so much we can learn; it's just an outstanding amount of knowledge waiting there for us to discover."