The MARS2013 Mars analog mission.
We report on the MARS2013 mission, a 4-week Mars analog field test in the northern Sahara. Nineteen experiments were conducted by a field crew in Morocco under simulated martian surface exploration conditions, supervised by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria. A Remote Science Support team analyzed field data in near real time, providing planning input for the management of a complex system of field assets; two advanced space suit simulators, four robotic vehicles, an emergency shelter, and a stationary sensor platform in a realistic work flow were coordinated by a Flight Control Team. A dedicated flight planning group, external control centers for rover tele-operations, and a biomedical monitoring team supported the field operations. A 10 min satellite communication delay and other limitations pertinent to human planetary surface activities were introduced. The fields of research for the experiments were geology, human factors, astrobiology, robotics, tele-science, exploration, and operations research. This paper provides an overview of the geological context and environmental conditions of the test site and the mission architecture, in particular the communication infrastructure emulating the signal travel time between Earth and Mars. We report on the operational work flows and the experiments conducted, including a deployable shelter prototype for multiple-day extravehicular activities and contingency situations.
1 Austrian Space Forum , Innsbruck and Vienna, Austria .
Gernot
G
Groemer
Alexander
A
Soucek
Norbert
N
Frischauf
Willibald
W
Stumptner
Christoph
C
Ragonig
Sebastian
S
Sams
Thomas
T
Bartenstein
Sandra
S
Häuplik-Meusburger
Polina
P
Petrova
Simon
S
Evetts
Chan
C
Sivenesan
Claudia
C
Bothe
Andrea
A
Boyd
Aline
A
Dinkelaker
Markus
M
Dissertori
David
D
Fasching
Monika
M
Fischer
Daniel
D
Föger
Luca
L
Foresta
Lukas
L
Fritsch
Harald
H
Fuchs
Christoph
C
Gautsch
Stephan
S
Gerard
Linda
L
Goetzloff
Izabella
I
Gołebiowska
Paavan
P
Gorur
Gerhard
G
Groemer
Petra
P
Groll
Christian
C
Haider
Olivia
O
Haider
Eva
E
Hauth
Stefan
S
Hauth
Sebastian
S
Hettrich
Wolfgang
W
Jais
Natalie
N
Jones
Kamal
K
Taj-Eddine
Alexander
A
Karl
Tilo
T
Kauerhoff
Muhammad Shadab
MS
Khan
Andreas
A
Kjeldsen
Jan
J
Klauck
Anna
A
Losiak
Markus
M
Luger
Thomas
T
Luger
Ulrich
U
Luger
Jane
J
McArthur
Linda
L
Moser
Julia
J
Neuner
Csilla
C
Orgel
Gian Gabriele
GG
Ori
Roberta
R
Paternesi
Jarno
J
Peschier
Isabella
I
Pfeil
Silvia
S
Prock
Josef
J
Radinger
Barbara
B
Ramirez
Wissam
W
Ramo
Mike
M
Rampey
Arnold
A
Sams
Elisabeth
E
Sams
Oana
O
Sandu
Alejandra
A
Sans
Petra
P
Sansone
Daniela
D
Scheer
Daniel
D
Schildhammer
Quentin
Q
Scornet
Nina
N
Sejkora
Andrea
A
Stadler
Florian
F
Stummer
Michael
M
Taraba
Reinhard
R
Tlustos
Ernst
E
Toferer
Thomas
T
Turetschek
Egon
E
Winter
Katja
K
Zanella-Kux
D060447:Emergency Shelter; D006801:Humans; D018535:Mars; D009018:Morocco; D012106:Research; D018561:Space Simulation