While much of this planet has been focused on a certain presidential summit (more on that in a moment), Alyssa Carson has an otherworldly obsession: Mars.

Undoubtedly, the teenager will be watching next week as the Red Planet’s orbit brings it just 36 million miles from Earth, as close as it’s been since 2003.

You see, Alyssa is determined to be the first human on Mars.

By age 12, she became the first person to have attended all three NASA space camps (in Alabama, Canada, and Turkey). She’s going again later this summer – for the 19th time.

Scuba certified? Check. Pilot’s license? Check. Proficient in four languages? Check. Guest speaker at NASA and youth leadership events? Check.

By her calculations, that first journey to Mars should take place in 2033. In the meantime, she’s getting ready.

At 17, Alyssa’s now a rising high school senior and plans to study biology and geology in college. Her dad, Bert, stresses she’s not a genius: “She just works hard every day and has been studying space since she was 7.”

Alyssa is incredibly persistent and focused. But she does have a Plan B: to be president. Or a teacher. Actually, as a speaker and a model of dogged preparation, Alyssa is already offering a master class in how to go after a big dream.

Now to our five selected stories, including a look at paths to progress on the American dairy farm, on gender equity in Afghanistan, and Russia-US relations.