CUDDELBACKVILLE, NY — While a lot of kids have their heads in the clouds, 12-year-old Sofia Bianco has her eyes on the skies and dreams that stretch to distant planets—and perhaps the stars.

The other day, Sofia and her parents Audrey Marrs and Marco Bianco sat down with the River Reporter to talk about her hopes of becoming a fighter pilot with the U.S. military, a goal that might eventually lead to her becoming an astronaut in this country’s space program.

The future pilot/astronaut is currently enrolled in seventh grade at Port Jervis Middle School—“it teaches more subjects”—and prior to that she attended the Homestead School in Glen Spey.

She resides with her folks and younger sister Mei on Paradise Island.  The property is located along the Neversink River and is normally accessed by a not-for-the-faint-of-heart suspension bridge—not quite like “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” but close. The main house was constructed in 1921, and Marco’s grandfather bought the property in 1961.

Reaching for the stars

“I’ve always been interested in being an astronaut, so Dad sent me to Aviation Challenge, and I really loved it,” Sofia said. That’s how she learned the basics of aeronautics and spent time in flight simulators at the United States Space & Rocket Center (USSRC), located in Alabama.

According to her mother, an American film producer of “No End in Sight” (2007), “Inside Job” (2010)—the critically acclaimed Academy Award winner for Best Documentary (Feature) on the global financial crisis—and “Time to Choose” (2015), her daughter “dreams of becoming an astronaut or fighter pilot.”

Sofia takes time to reflect on the present and future, including what’s going in space exploration and whether humanity could live on other spheres orbiting our sun, or—perhaps in the distant future—on planets orbiting other stars. 

“It’s very cool,” Sofia replied when asked about humanity’s role in space. “In maybe another year, we’ll find another place.”

“I think it’s wonderful, aspirational. A lot of children want to be astronauts, but that fades,” said Marco Bianco, the entrepreneur of an AI startup. Turning to Sofia, he added, “Because you wanted be an astronaut so bad, the best way is to be a fighter pilot.”

And to that end, three years ago their daughter was enrolled in the USSRC’s Aviation Challenge program, where according to her proud father, Sofia’s “goal was to win Top Gun, which she did.”

Three years ago, she placed third; two years past, finished second; and finally took first place as Top Gun, beating out 32 kids from all over the world.

She delightedly showed off her shiny, beribboned “Top Gun” award medal.

To Space Camp and beyond

Asked about the “Top Gun” competition, where students take the controls of fighter jet simulators of F-15 Eagles and F-18 Super Hornets, she responded, “It’s like dog fighting; you try to shoot down people in head-to-head dog fighting… someday, I hope to fly an F-18.”

In addition to the prestigious award, she was voted patrol leader by her peers in the class. 

As for next year, it’s on to Space Camp.

When asked about her role models, Sofia replied, “Fighter pilots and astronauts. I think everything they do is so cool.” She mentioned she has a poster up on her bedroom wall that pictures the pilots of the famed USAF Thunderbirds, including signatures by female fighter pilots: Capt. Randy Winther, Capt. Natalee Winton and Maj. Krystal Jimenez.

The future might lie in space

As to the future of space exploration, Sofia said, “I think we’re going to get really far, and I feel like technology is getting faster and faster.”

And on the topic of what humans can do, if as a species, we “outgrow” Planet Earth, she paused momentarily before replying, “We have to find another planet to live on, find other living creatures to help us… Maybe not in our galaxy, but the universe is so big.”

“I think it would be really cool, I just hope they don’t kill us!” she added, as she considered encounters with intelligent life forms from other worlds.

From the perspective of a mother whose “background has always been studio art and film,” Audrey Marrs reflected on her daughter’s desire to become a fighter pilot, and perhaps later join the astronaut program. “It was the last thing I would have expected [but] to see Sofia so completely embrace it… my beautiful 12-year-old daughter says she wants to be in the military [and that] gave me pause. [But] I believe in her and support her in every way I can.”

Look out, Maverick (that’s the character portrayed by Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” and its sequel), Sofia “Boo Boo” Bianco is on your tail and closing fast.