{"id":27281,"date":"2023-06-28T00:36:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T04:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/?page_id=27281"},"modified":"2025-11-03T12:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T17:34:13","slug":"first-trip-to-mars-how-to-pack-light","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/first-trip-to-mars-how-to-pack-light\/","title":{"rendered":"First trip to Mars: How to Pack Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment27463\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment27463\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/07\/FRP-MARs.png\" alt=\"Rocket with blast and smoke takes off to the red planet mars mars, concept. Spacecraft lift off to explore other planets. Rocket launch\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"wp-image-27463 size-full\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment27463\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adobe Stock\/alonesdj<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The goals of the First trip to Mars: How to pack light FRP are to produce novel software based on data from Mars orbiters and rovers to model the ionosphere, its impact on navigation systems, and engineer microbial communities capable of C sequestration and nutrients production, in an interconnected way, to support NASA human missions to Mars in the 2030s. Results from this project, and future research will also be applied on the Earth system, to support the fight against global warming and sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2025\/03\/youtube-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"39\" height=\"27\" class=\"wp-image-36128 alignleft\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span>Click\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0srF4M_Wj4w&amp;list=PLpu5IQOO4EDNG1VQ6YjUEKvyLaVOcCRVZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0srF4M_Wj4w&amp;list=PLpu5IQOO4EDNG1VQ6YjUEKvyLaVOcCRVZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">e<\/a><span>\u00a0to view the recordi<\/span>ng of this FRP\u2019s research symposium titled \u201cFocused Research Program Symposium:\u00a0<span>&#8220;Space Travel with Earth Wisdom &#8211; Payload Enhancement Talks\u201d held on May 24th, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Focused Research Program led by:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/csp\/profiles\/marianna-felici\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marianna Felici<\/a>, Research Scientist, Center for Space Physics, CAS<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/csp\/profiles\/paul-withers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Withers<\/a>, Professor, Astronomy Department Chair, Associate Director, Center for Space Physics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Research Thrusts<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Ionosphere and surface<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span><span class=\"xcontentpasted1\">This thrust\u2019s research goal is to<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>build, from data, a model of the Martian ionosphere and its response to changes in <span lang=\"en\">the amount of light energy from the Sun.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h5 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Thrust Leaders<\/h5><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<div class=\"profile-listing\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/marianna-felici\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/05\/mfelici-23436-profile.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Marianna Felici<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Research Scientist, Center for Space Physics<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/paul-withers\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/03\/Paul-Withers-636x636-1-636x636.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Paul Withers<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Professor,<br \/>\r\nAstronomy Department Chair,<br \/>\r\nAssociate Director, Center for Space Physics<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!--\/.profile-listing-->\n<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h5 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Core Faculty<\/h5><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<div class=\"profile-listing\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/majd-mayyasi\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/06\/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Majd Mayyasi<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Senior Research Scientist, <br \/>\r\nCenter for Space Physics<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!--\/.profile-listing-->\n<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h3><strong>2. Navigation and Infrastructure<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span><span class=\"xcontentpasted1\">This thrust\u2019s research goal is to<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0m<\/span>odel the performance of Communication and Navigation<\/span><span class=\"x_ContentPasted1\"> systems in the Martian ionosphere.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h5 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Thrust Leaders<\/h5><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<div class=\"profile-listing\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/prakash-ishwar\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2016\/11\/prakash.ishwar.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Prakash Ishwar<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Professor of Engineering (ECE, CS)<br \/>\r\nAffiliate Professor, Computer Science<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/joshua-semeter\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/06\/josh.semeter.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Joshua Semeter<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Director of the Center for Space Physics<br \/>\r\nProfessor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ENG<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!--\/.profile-listing-->\n<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h3><strong>3. Microbes<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"x_ContentPasted2\"><span><span class=\"xcontentpasted1\">This thrust\u2019s research goal is to<\/span><\/span> <\/span><span class=\"x_ContentPasted2\">learn and model which fungal taxa and bacteria can tolerate and transform Martian resources; and engineer a microbial community optimized for CO<\/span><span class=\"x_ContentPasted2\">2 <\/span><span class=\"x_ContentPasted2\">sequestration and nutrients production.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h5 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Thrust Leaders<\/h5><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<div class=\"profile-listing\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/jennifer-bhatnagar\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"136\" height=\"136\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/06\/talbot2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Jennifer Bhatnagar, PhD<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Associate Professor of Biology<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/jeffrey-j-marlow\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"119\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/07\/Marlow_Jeffrey.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Jeffrey J. Marlow<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Assistant Professor of Biology<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/daniel-segre\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2017\/02\/bme.profile.Segre-Daniel-318_1729_pp-copy-600x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Daniel Segr\u00e8, PhD<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Professor of Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Computing &#038; Data Sciences<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!--\/.profile-listing-->\n<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h5 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Core Faculty<\/h5><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<div class=\"profile-listing\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"has-title\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/profile\/pankaj-metha\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2023\/06\/bme.profile.Mehta-Pankaj_1497-1024x1024-1-600x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"profile-name\">Pankaj Mehta<\/p>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title\">Professor, Physics<\/p>\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!--\/.profile-listing-->\n<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Events<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><strong>Focused Research Programs Symposium<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Title: <\/strong> Space Travel with Earth Wisdom<br \/>\n<strong>Date: <\/strong> Friday, May 24th, 2024, 1:00 PM &#8211; 8:00 PM ET<br \/>\n<strong>Location (IN-PERSON):<\/strong> Boston University, Center for Computing &amp; Data Sciences, 665 Commonwealth Ave, Room 1750 (17th floor), Boston, MA<br \/>\nWatch event recordings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLpu5IQOO4EDNG1VQ6YjUEKvyLaVOcCRVZ \">here<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Focused Research Programs Workshop<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Date: <\/strong> Friday, November 17th, 2023, 12:00 PM &#8211; 2:00 PM ET<br \/>\n<strong>Location (IN-PERSON): <\/strong> Boston University, Center for Computing &amp; Data Sciences, 665 Commonwealth Ave, Room 1646 (16th floor), Boston, MA<br \/>\nAgenda and workshop details forthcoming.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><strong>How to get involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>For program specific inquiries and questions, please contact FRP leaders: <a href=\"mailto:mfelici@bu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marianna Felici<\/a> or <a href=\"mailto:withers@bu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Withers<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Faculty interested in submitting a Focused Research Programs proposal are strongly encouraged to discuss their ideas with <a href=\"mailto:yannisp@bu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yannis Paschalidis<\/a>, director of\u00a0the Hariri Institute for Computing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>To learn more details about the Hariri Institute\u2019s Focused Research Programs,<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/how-to-get-involved\/for-faculty\/focused-research-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>visit here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Our Focus The goals of the First trip to Mars: How to pack light FRP are to produce novel software based on data from Mars orbiters and rovers to model the ionosphere, its impact on navigation systems, and engineer microbial communities capable of C sequestration and nutrients production, in an interconnected way, to support [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18553,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27281"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36131,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27281\/revisions\/36131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}