As a young teen growing up in St. Paul, Minn., Abigail Harrison dreamed of becoming the first woman to land on Mars. Unlike most aspiring astronauts, however, she never gave up on her passion. Now 21, Astronaut Abby – the social media persona she created for a middle school history project – has become an influential advocate of space exploration and STEAM education through her blog, speeches, and nonprofit Mars Generation that she cofounded.

How influential? Her @AstronautAbby Twitter account has 192,000 followers. She hosts an #AskAbby Space and Science Show on YouTube with nearly 19,000 subscribers, and the Mars Generation foundation she launched at age 18 has more than 1,800 students around the world sharing their love of STEM through  participation in its Student Space Ambassador Leadership program. Nearly four dozen low-income kids have attended space camp thanks to the funds Harrison and her nonprofit have raised. She even gave a TEDx talk in Tampa, Fla., entitled “What’s Your Mars” that has been viewed over 242,000 times.

Harrison has been recognized with numerous honors, including Forbes 30 Under 30;  Glamour’s 2019 College Woman of the Year; 2018 TIAA Difference Maker 100 Award, and a 2017 Eureka! Innovation Award for innovation in education.

Ironically, it was an 8th grade National History Day project – not science fair – that ignited Harrison’s interest in space travel along with her social media presence. An avid member of her her school’s top-ranked Science Bowl team, she also participated in its Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science Program. So perhaps it was only natural that she would choose to examine the history of the International Space Station for her state History Day topic.

Her project – Debate and Diplomacy: The Development of the ISS (photo, below) – won a state-level award and also rocketed her to NASA’s attention and stint as that agency’s guest blogger.

As part of her research, particularly to help find quotes and information from NASA experts, Harrison set up a Twitter account and began to follow some of NASA’s astronauts, scientists, and engineers. That enabled her to interact with space experts without having to leave home. She also started her blog as a part of the History Day project. Ultimately, this middle school social studies project led to her meeting European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, who then offered to serve as a mentor, and attending his first launch to the ISS.

In high school, Harrison took advanced STEM courses, including as a dual-enrollment student at the University of Minnesota. She also was a captain of her gymnastics team and member of the varsity dive team. Graduating from high school in 2015, she attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, graduating in June 2019 with a degree in astrobiology and Russian area studies. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrobiology and become an astronaut.

Harrison took a major step closer to her goal this year when she passed her pilot license exam – joining the 7 percent of licensed private pilots who are women.

Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features

Tags: Abigail Harrison, Aerospace Engineering, Astronaut Abby, NASA, National History Day, Programs for Girls, STEM education