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.