Alejandro Perez, USA

This week on Aspiring Martians, Joe talks with Alejandro Perez, a biomedical engineer turned space educator whose energy is strong enough to replace your morning espresso.

Alejandro’s path started in Connecticut, where he grew up obsessed with how both nature and machines worked. He’s studied tissue engineering, led human stress experiments, worked on Martian regolith and plant genetics research with NASA’s CASIS division, built agricultural robotics for Mars, and now teaches kids and visitors about space at the Kennedy Space Center.

In this conversation, Joe and Alejandro talk about inspecting diesel tanks, emotional Milky Way moments, and the impact a childhood microscope can have on charting a course to the stars. They dive into the value of good mentors, driving your dream forward even when no one’s cheering you on, harnessing the “radiation power of a black hole,” and how Mars might just help us make life better back on Earth.

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