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 what it really means to be a shark. 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.

A huge thank you to Alejandro for joining me today and sharing his incredible energy and curiosity, to Nick Thorburn for our stellar theme music, to Ceci Giglio for the beautiful graphics, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the FB group, and to my family for always supporting this journey, even when it means making me avgolemono to chase this stupid cold away.