Abigail Harrison (born June 13, 1997), also known as Astronaut Abby, is an American

internet personality An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

and

science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the public awareness of and interest in sci ...

, particularly in the area of the

United States space program The United States has developed many space programs since the beginning of the spaceflight era in the mid-20th century. The government runs space programs by three primary agencies: NASA for civil space; the United States Space Force for milita ...

. Harrison is the founder and current leader of The Mars Generation, a

501(c)(3) nonprofit A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

. She is not an astronaut.

Early life and education

Harrison was born in 1997 in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. Harrison has sought to become the first person on Mars since an early age. Harrison attended

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and

Minneapolis Public Schools Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) or Special School District Number 1 is a public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Public Schools enrolls 36,370 students in pub ...

for

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...

education. Harrison graduated in 2019 from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

with a Bachelors of Arts. She pursued astrobiology (self-made major) and Russian Area Studies degrees.

Career

The Mars Generation

In 2015, Harrison founded the

called The Mars Generation and currently serves as the President of the Executive Board. The Mars Generation is an American

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

involved in public outreach and advocating for

human space exploration Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

and

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

(STEM) education. The Mars Generation offers 3 main programs. The Future of Space Outreach program encourages the support of space exploration and STEM education. The Student Space Ambassador Leadership Program (SSA) is a dual program in mentorship and leadership designed to provide school and career guidance to students ages 13–24. The final program provides full paid scholarships for students demonstrating financial need to attend U.S. Space Camp. In order to apply for consideration students need to be age 15–17, demonstrate interest in space exploration and an aptitude in STEM and complete the application, including obtaining a recommendation from a teacher and/or mentor.

Author

In January 2021,

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

published a book by Harrison titled "Dream Big! How To Reach For Your Stars". Harrison and Random House have stated that any proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to The Mars Generation, Harrison's nonprofit organization.

Public engagement

Harrison's online presence as Astronaut Abby was spurred from an 8th grade

National History Day National History Day (NHD) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit which aims to "improve the teaching and learning of history." Its flagship event is an annual competition in which students in grades 6-12 develop presentations about topics in ...

project titled 'Debate and Diplomacy: The History of the

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), ...

". Harrison set up a Twitter account under the name of AstronautAbby to connect with NASA employees to get a quote for her project. On May 28, 2013, Harrison attended the

Soyuz TMA-09M Soyuz TMA-09M was a Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 36 crew to the space station. The Soyuz remained docked to the space station during Expeditions 36 and 37 to serve as an ...

launch of her mentor, Astronaut

Luca Parmitano Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also a colonel and test pilot ...

, to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, becoming Parmitano's Earth Liaison. As his Earth Liaison, she shared his 6-month experience of living in space with her social media community.

References

External links

*
The Mars Generation – Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Abigail 1997 births Living people American science communicators American Internet celebrities People from Minneapolis Wellesley College alumni