As a child, Kavya Manyapu would stare into the night sky above Hyderabad, India.
Her father would identify the different stars.
He would tell her about man’s first steps on the moon.
He would fuel her dream to become an astronaut.
Later this month, Manyapu will spend two weeks on Mars — or, at least, the closest thing on Earth to Mars.
The Mars Desert Research Station in Utah draws aeronautical engineers such as Manyapu, geologists, physicians and astro-biologists to its small cylindrical habitat, where research for the first human mission to Mars is taking place. The station is a prototype for the base that astronauts could use on Mars.