UF Astraeus faculty help shape national science strategy for human exploration of Mars

Two University of Florida faculty members with the Astraeus Space Institute played key leadership roles in a major National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report released in December that will help guide U.S. science priorities for future human missions to Mars.

The report was developed over nearly two years by an ad hoc committee convened by the National Academies’ Space Studies Board. The study outlines how human exploration campaigns on the Martian surface can advance high-priority scientific goals while preparing for sustained human presence on the planet.

Anna-Lisa Paul, Ph.D., director of UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, chair of the Astraeus administrative council, and a research professor in horticultural sciences, served as co-chair of the Panel on Biological and Physical Sciences and Human Factors.. Amy Williams, Ph.D., assistant director of Astraeus and associate professor of geological sciences, served on the Panel on Astrobiology.

The Astrobiology panel addressed how astronauts and scientists should respond to a potential detection of Mars-indigenous life. This is a scenario Williams described as both scientifically and philosophically profound.

“One of the most poignant topics we discussed was how to address a potential positive identification of Mars-indigenous life by the astronauts,” Williams said. “This is a new realm in the conversation on how we move forward, as scientists and as humans, with the irrefutable detection of life beyond Earth.”

The report identifies 11 top science priorities for the first human missions to Mars, with the highest priority being the search for evidence of past or present life. Other priorities include understanding Mars’ water and carbon dioxide cycles, characterizing the planet’s geologic history, assessing the impact of the Martian environment on astronaut health and performance and determining how Mars affects biological systems brought from Earth such as plants, microbes and animal reproduction.

“The responsibility of the panel was to identify high priority science objectives in the topics of biological and physical sciences and human factors, to be addressed by the first human explorers to Mars across multiple science campaigns on the surface,” Paul said. 

Among the panel’s key contributions were to provide the Mars committee with information on approaches to study how the Martian environment affects genomes, reproduction, microbial behavior, plant and animal systems and crew physiological, cognitive and emotional health. The Mars Committee used this kind of information from each of the panels to inform the priorities that were published in the report.

Both faculty members said the report reflects the interdisciplinary strengths of the Astraeus Space Institute, which brings together researchers working on human biology, plants, microbes, engineering, human factors, space systems and planetary science.

“We, humanity, are going to Mars. The scientists and students that comprise Astraeus are part of that future now, and who knows, some of our students may even be in those first boots on the surface of Mars,” Paul said.