Mars 2013

Between 01 – 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum – in partnership with the Ibn Battuta Center in Marrakesh – conducted an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco in the framework of the PolAres research programme. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew conducted experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.

Mission goals

• an opportunity to study equipment behavior involving the simultaneous usage of instruments with the option of a human-in-the-loop (via the Aouda.X/.S spacesuit),
• a platform for testing life-detection or geophysical techniques, performing terrain tests
  for rovers and test concepts for high situational awareness of remote support teams
• serving as an outreach platform to enhance the visibility of planetary sciences and human spaceflight.

 

Experiments

Experiment	Organization	Description
CLIFFBOT CRV	Association Planete Mars, FR	Cliffbot rover vehicle – terrain trafficability
COMPSTRESS Crew Fatigue	Med.Univ. Graz, AT, Kings College, UK	Sensorimotor Adaptation & Stress Physiology in Analogues
ERAS C3	MS Italy, IT	Command & Control software project for data processing in the field
SREC	Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Cognitique, Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux, FR	Assessement of small rover exploration capabilities (ATV-like vehicles)
DELTA	Austrian Space Forum, AT	Human factors – work economics, time delay A.X vs unsuited
Puli-Rover	Puli Space Tech, HU	Mobility tests for the Hungarian GLXP rover
Hunveyor-4	Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, HU	Surveyor-class robotic lander with remote access
LTMS-MOROCCO	CSEM, CH	Long term medical monitoring system, biomedical chest vest
Magma-White Rover	ABM Space, PL	Pathfinder-class rover system, mobility & human-robotic interaction
MEDIAN	Univ. College London, UK	Methane Detection by In-Situ Analysis with Nano-Landers
microEVA	NASA JPL, USA	Luminescence detection of viable bacterial spores and terbium microspheres
Deployable Shelter	TU Vienna, AT	Deployable Emergency Shelter suitcase for astronauts
PolAres programme-specific activities
Aouda.X/.S	Austrian Space Forum, AT	Series of engineering tests w.r.t. communication, trafficability and materials
MAT/EP	Medical University of Innsbruck, AT	routine medical survey during OEWF field campaigns; includes a field incident reporting system
Geosciences	University of Budapest, HU University Innsbruck, AT	Geoscience remote science support experiments; includes the management of all geophysical and astrobiological research activities.
ANTIPODES	Kiwispace, NZ	Communication experiment with Kiwispace, NZ – testing the experiment guidance over to an external Mission Support Center during an ongoing experiment.
Complimentary experiments
Peniculus	University of Innsbruck, AT	A student experiment, devised at the University of Innsbruck during the summer 2012 “Unicamp”. One solar panel will be swept by a brush once a day, whereas the other will accumulate a fine layer of dust.
Distance measurement “Yellow Box”	FH Mittweida	Using a high frequency signal emited by a base station, the signal travel time is measured to calculate the distance to the receiver. This could be used for a triangulation method to determine the location of a field unit.
OPS Box “White”	Intarsico Design	The classical base station for receiving the telemetry of the Aouda spacesuits has been expanded by an ergonomic design variant.

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