Benedetta Facini, Italy

What if the path to space started not in a government astronaut corps… but on your laptop?

This week on Aspiring Martians, I’m joined by Benedetta Facini — citizen scientist, science communicator, asteroid hunter, and newly selected astronaut candidate with Titans Space Industries.

Benedetta’s journey into space didn’t begin with rocket equations or flight school. It started with curiosity, a telescope, and a grandfather who accidentally sparked a lifelong fascination with the cosmos. From there, that curiosity led her into NASA citizen science projects where she began analyzing real astronomical data, helping identify asteroids, studying Martian cloud patterns, and collaborating with researchers and volunteers around the world.

Along the way she discovered something powerful: the realization that space exploration isn’t only driven by astronauts and engineers — it’s also powered by ordinary people contributing their time, curiosity, and patience to scientific discovery.

Today Benedetta is a physics student, science communicator, mentor to young citizen scientists, and part of a new generation working to make space exploration more accessible to everyone.

In this episode we explore how citizen science can open doors into the space industry, what it’s like to mentor students discovering asteroids for the first time, the surprising reality of astronaut selection, and why curiosity might be the most important qualification for anyone hoping to explore the universe.

Because sometimes the journey to space doesn’t begin with a rocket launch.

Sometimes it begins with a question.

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