The Professional Association of Research for Space Engineering Concepts (PARSEC) is a team of undergraduate engineering students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, who participate in NASA’s Human Lander Challenge (HuLC). The group was formed three years ago to participate in the 2024 Human Lander Challenge, which focused on mitigating lunar plume surface interactions (PSI), a phenomenon that occurs when a spacecraft lands on the Moon and dust billows up to obscure sensors, sandblast nearby vehicles, and cause unstable cratering effects. The original PARSEC team designed a project to mitigate lunar PSI, which aimed to develop an onboard additive deployment system that would create a temporary landing pad via the use of thermal spraying technology. They were invited to the NASA HuLC Finalist Forum in Huntsville, Alabama, and were given an Excellence in Systems Engineering Award for their work.
For the 2025 Human Lander Challenge, the original PARSEC team expanded from 6 to 12 members. The 2025 Challenge focused on advanced cryogenics: the team's objective was to develop a system that can measure propellant mass and distribution in microgravity. The team developed the project Electrical Capacitance to High-resolution Observation (ECHO) which adapted Electrical Capacitance Tomography to work with a machine learning algorithm to accurately and continuously measure propellent quantities. The 2024-2025 PARSEC team was invited to the HuLC forum to present their project and they placed first for their proposed solution to the given issue. Their work was also published to NASA’s Technical Report Server.
For the 2025-2026 Human Lander Challenge, the PARSEC team has expanded from 12 to 21 members. The 2026 Human Lander Challenge aims to improve critical aspects of Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) performance for long-duration spaceflight. This year's PARSEC team is developing a project called Atmospheric Electrochemical Transformation for Habitat and Environmental Regeneration (AETHER) which aims to split CO2 into O2 with a Carbon byproduct through a series of electrochemical reactions. The current oxygen generation Assembly in place yields up to 47% oxygen for crewed missions, whereas AETHER would theoretically yield up to 98.6% oxygen, thus rendering it more effective as a closed-loop system.
PARSEC is looking for additional funding of $5,000, which would be used to support several critical aspects of the project’s development and testing. A portion of the funds would go toward purchasing specialized equipment that is necessary for accurately building and evaluating the system; the team is currently unable to access these through pre-existing resources. Another portion of funding would be used to acquire the individual parts required to assemble a functional prototype, allowing the team to move from theoretical design to hands-on testing. In addition, funds would be allocated for personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of all team members involved in testing, as they will be working with carcinogens that can be harmful to humans. Overall, this funding would directly enable progress while maintaining a safe and effective development process.
