The MARS2013 Mars Analog Mission

• DOI: 10.1089/ast.2013.1062
• Publication Date: 2014-05-13T19:41:08Z
• Authors: Gernot Groemer; Alexander Soucek; Norbert Frischauf; Willibald Stumptner; Christoph Ragonig; Sebastian Sams; Thomas Bartenstein; Sandra Häuplik-Me...; Polina Petrova; Simon Evetts; Chan Sivenesan; Claudia Bothe; Andrea Boyd; Aline Dinkelaker; Markus Dissertori; David Fasching; Monika Fischer; Daniel Föger; Luca Foresta; Lukas Fritsch; Harald Fuchs; Christoph Gautsch; Stephan Gerard; Linda Goetzloff; Izabella Gołębiowska; Paavan Gorur; Gerhard Groemer; Petra Groll; Christian Haider; Olivia Haider; Eva Hauth; Stefan Hauth; Sebastian Hettrich; Wolfgang Jais; Natalie Jones; Kamal Taj-Eddine; Alexander Karl; Tilo Kauerhoff; Muhammad Shadab Khan; Andreas Kjeldsen; Jan Klauck; Anna Losiak; Markus Luger; Thomas Luger; Ulrich Luger; Jane McArthur; Linda Moser; Julia Neuner; Csilla Orgel; Gian Gabriele Ori; Roberta Paternesi; Jarno Peschier; Isabella Pfeil; Silvia Prock; Josef Radinger; Barbara Ramirez; Wissam Ramo; Mike Rampey; Arnold Sams; Elisabeth Sams; Oana Sandu; Alejandra Sans; Petra Sansone; Daniela Scheer; Daniel Schildhammer; Quentin Scornet; Nina Sejkora; Andrea Stadler; Florian Stummer; Michael Taraba; Reinhard Tlustos; Ernst Toferer; Thomas Turetschek; Egon Winter; Katja Zanella-Kux
• Keywords: Morocco; 103038 Space exploration; Emergency Shelter; 13. Climate action; Research; 0103 physical sciences; Humans; Mars; 103038 Weltraumforschung; 01 natural sciences; Space Simulation

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.