Imagine a robotic pilot flying a spaceship to Mars with no guidance from human beings. After landing on the surface of the Red Planet, it steps outside, snaps a few photos, and instantly sends them back to Earth.

Science fiction, right? The answer is no. Technology like this is actually being developed right now, by some of the smartest engineers on the planet! And Eletha Flores is one of them.

After years of dreaming about space, Eletha began interning at NASA—the place where science fiction becomes reality. These days, she spends most of her time in the robotics laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With a soldering iron in her hand, and a vision of the future in her mind, she designs and builds the robots of tomorrow.