This week on Aspiring Martians, I spoke with Rahaf Adi, the first Syrian woman to graduate with a space engineering degree. Rahaf’s journey has taken her from childhood dreams of building rockets to designing real experiments bound for space, including work at Purdue’s legendary Zucrow Labs on thrust-vectored engines. She was even chosen as the Banner Bearer for Purdue’s College of Engineering, leading the graduation procession with well-earned pride.

We talked about breaking new ground for women in aerospace, designing for spaceflight, the grit it takes to carve a path when none seems available, and how she’s motivated by the idea of not wanting to disappoint her future mentees—which pushes her to strive for her very best today.

This conversation is about determination, identity, mentorship, and the long view of what it means to chase Mars while inspiring those who will come after you.

A huge thank you to Rahaf Adi for joining me today and sharing her vision and voice, 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 the dinner table turns into a planetary history lesson.