Astronaut Alyssa Carson On Overcoming Biases In The Notoriously Male-Dominated Field

Astronaut-in-training Alyssa Carson wants to be one of the first – and youngest – people to go to Mars. She talks to us about overcoming biases in the notoriously male-dominated field, and about her latest creative project with Louis Vuitton

- Hillary Kang

It’s a common refrain from children around the world and through the ages: “I want to be an astronaut.” Alyssa Carson was no different. From as far back as she could remember, the 21-year-old nursed a singular desire to become an astronaut – specifically, she wanted to be one of the first people on Mars. “I thought, ‘Well, no one has been there, so why not me?’” she quips.

Carson, who is currently studying astrobiology at the Florida Institute of Technology while juggling additional space-related extracurriculars, was recently invited to be part of Louis Vuitton’s 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries exhibition. Along with 199 other artists and visionaries from different industries and fields – including the likes of BTS and Kim Jones – Carson was invited to design her own Louis Vuitton trunk. The trunks, which will be on display in Singapore this April, will later be auctioned by Sotheby’s in December; all proceeds will go to a scholarship programme aimed at bridging inequality gaps.

Of her creation, Carson said: “The artwork on the box is an abstract representation of deep space. There are also small holes drilled all over the box to represent the light of stars that we are able to see… One day we will be able to appreciate how one dot of light in the sky is an entire solar system with its own planets and worlds.”

Carson talks to us about how she got her callsign, Blueberry, about the challenges that she faces as a young woman in the field of astronomy, and how she overcomes them.

What was your artistic process for the Louis 200 trunk?