The MARS2013 Mars Analog Mission

Abstract

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, astrobi-ology, 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. Key Words: Mars— Exploration—Human missions—Analog research—Deployable emergency shelter. Astrobiology 14, 360–376.

Full text

Research Articles
The MARS2013 Mars Analog Mission
Gernot Groemer,
1
Alexander Soucek,
1,2
Norbert Frischauf,
1
Willibald Stumptner,
1
Christoph Ragonig,
1
Sebastian Sams,
1
Thomas Bartenstein,
1
Sandra Ha¨ uplik-Meusburger,
3
Polina Petrova,
3
Simon Evetts,
4
Chan Sivenesan,
5
Claudia Bothe,
6
Andrea Boyd,
7
Aline Dinkelaker,
8
Markus Dissertori,
9
David Fasching,
1,9
Monika Fischer,
1
Daniel Fo¨ger,
1,9
Luca Foresta,
1
Lukas Fritsch,
1
Harald Fuchs,
1
Christoph Gautsch,
1
Stephan Gerard,
10
Linda Goetzloff,
1
Izabella Gołe˛biowska,
11
Paavan Gorur,
12
Gerhard Groemer,
1
Petra Groll,
1
Christian Haider,
1
Olivia Haider,
1
Eva Hauth,
1
Stefan Hauth,
1
Sebastian Hettrich,
1
Wolfgang Jais,
1,9
Natalie Jones,
13
Kamal Taj-Eddine,
14
Alexander Karl,
15
Tilo Kauerhoff,
2
Muhammad Shadab Khan,
16
Andreas Kjeldsen,
17
Jan Klauck,
18
Anna Losiak,
19
Markus Luger,
1,20
Thomas Luger,
1,20
Ulrich Luger,
1
Jane McArthur,
21
Linda Moser,
1,2
Julia Neuner,
1
Csilla Orgel,
22
Gian Gabriele Ori,
23
Roberta Paternesi,
2
Jarno Peschier,
1
Isabella Pfeil,
1,19
Silvia Prock,
9
Josef Radinger,
1
Barbara Ramirez,
9
Wissam Ramo,
24
Mike Rampey,
25
Arnold Sams,
1
Elisabeth Sams,
1
Oana Sandu,
26
Alejandra Sans,
1
Petra Sansone,
1
Daniela Scheer,
1
Daniel Schildhammer,
1
Quentin Scornet,
27
Nina Sejkora,
1
Andrea Stadler,
20
Florian Stummer,
1
Michael Taraba,
1,19
Reinhard Tlustos,
1,19
Ernst Toferer,
1,20
Thomas Turetschek,
1
Egon Winter,
1
and Katja Zanella-Kux
1
Abstract
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 condi-
tions, 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 op-
erations. 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, astrobi-
ology, 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. Key Words: Mars—
Exploration—Human missions—Analog research—Deployable emergency shelter. Astrobiology 14, 360–376.
1. Introduction
H
uman-robotic partnerships for the exploration of
Mars are an integral part of most mission scenarios that
involve in situ field work (Hoffman and Kaplan, 1997; Davila
et al., 2010). To maximize the scientific output of surface
expeditions, three planning segments are to be considered
from the mission design perspective: (a) technical aspects
[instrument hardware/software safety, logistics (e.g., com-
munication, power, transportation, life support), maintenance,
1
Austrian Space Forum, Innsbruck and Vienna, Austria.
2
European Space Agency, Paris, France.
3
Vienna University of Technology,
Vienna, Austria.
4
Wyle GmbH, Cologne, Germany.
5
University of Nottingham, UK.
6
University of Siegen, Germany.
7
Space Generation
Advisory Council, Vienna, Austria.
8
University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
9
University of Innsbruck, Austria.
10
French
Mars Society.
11
University of Warsaw, Poland.
12
Kings College London and UK Space Biomedicine Association, United Kingdom.
13
Department of National Defence, Montre
´
al, Canada.
14
Universite
´
Cadi Ayyad, Marrakesh, Morocco.
15
Space Applications Services,
Zaventem, Belgium.
16
Space Generation Advisory Council, India.
17
University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
18
Austrian Space Forum, Berlin
Office, Germany.
19
University of Vienna, Austria.
20
Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria.
21
University College London, United
Kingdom.
22
Eo
¨
tvo
¨
s Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary.
23
IRSPS, Universita d’Annunzio, Italy.
24
EADS Astrium, Friedrichshafen,
Germany.
25
Parhelion Aerospace, Evilard, Switzerland.
26
European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany.
27
Institut National des
Sciences Applique
´
es, Toulouse, France.
ASTROBIOLOGY
Volume 14, Number 5, 2014
ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2013.1062
360

and supply capabilities]; (b) integration of assets (e.g., data
acquisition and processing work flows, influence of human
factors, prioritization of field activities); and (c) their interac-
tion with the martian environment (e.g., traverse planning with
regard to terrain and weather conditions, planetary protection).
An established method for integrating these segments,
Mars analog simulations are regarded as the most compre-
hensive tool for optimizing the deployment and usage of
expedition assets on Mars (Osinski et al., 2007). Previous
studies have investigated the limitations of field work on
Mars, based upon lessons learned from robotic vehicles
(Estlin et al., 2003a, 2003b), from the Apollo lunar missions
(Carr et al., 2003), and from field work in terrestrial ana-
logues (e.g., Osinski et al., 2007; Bleacher et al., 2008).
Scenarios and methods have been developed for surface
mobility and field work together (Abramov et al., 2005) for
in situ exploration (Cockell, 2001) and regarding human
factors (Manzey, 2004; Groemer et al., 2010a). There have
also been also studies on human-robotic cooperation
(Huntsberger et al., 2000; Hirsh et al., 2006) for various
exploration strategies (Hoffman and Kaplan, 1997; Dick-
erson, 2000; Cockell, 2002) during surface missions. Major
expeditions with field work in a simulated spaceflight en-
vironment include the NASA Desert Research and Tech-
nology Studies (Desert RATS; Yingst et al., 2013), the
missions at the Mars Desert Research Station (Hargitai,
2008; Kereszturi, 2011), and the Flashline Mars Arctic
Research Station at Haughton impact crater in the High
Canadian Arctic (Clancey, 2000), as well as the Arctic Mars
Analog Svalbard Expedition (Steele et al., 2011).
However, only some of these missions have fidelity levels
that represent the major limitations of an actual surface
mission, such as (a) time-delayed communication between
Earth and Mars, (b) a realistic balancing of decision-making
autonomy between the space and the ground segment, or (c)
simultaneously managing multiple human and robotic assets.
We argue that studying these mission elements in a realistic
setting not only provides an effective proving ground for
individual instrument testing but, more importantly, also of-
fers a tool with which to identify limitations in the work flows
(e.g., discrepancy between data acquisition, data interpreta-
tion, and flight planning lead times), safety issues (e.g.,rover-
rover collision risks when working in the same terrain but
having separate mission control entities), and the potential for
synergy (e.g., mutual support of experiment hardware assets).
Therefore, the Austrian Space Forum (O
¨
sterreichisches
Weltraum Forum, OeWF) initiated the PolAres program to
study human-robotic field exploration in Mars analog settings.
Based upon previous field missions (Groemer, 2012), the
OeWF, in partnership with the Ibn Battuta Centre for field
exploration and partners from 23 countries, organized a Mars
analog mission in the Tafilalt region near Erfoud in the northern
Sahara, Morocco, between January 26 and March 3, 2013.
The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive
overview of the MARS2013 field mission. For the individ-
ual results of the experiments, we refer to the respective
papers of the experiment teams.
2. Preparatory Activities
The Morocco simulation was the 11
th
Mars analog re-
search campaign conducted by the Austrian Space Forum
since 2006. Previous activities included a 3-week high-
fidelity mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah
to gain operational experience, subsurface cave exploration
as an analogue to martian lava tubes, cryochamber tests at
-110C for engineering tests, and the simulated exploration
of volcanic regions (Groemer et al., 2012). In 2011, a field
campaign in Rı
´
o Tinto in southern Spain included tests with
the ESA Eurobot Ground Prototype rover. The latter two
campaigns were intended to integrate science-focused field
activities with the operational restrictions pertinent to
spaceflight operations (Groemer et al., 2010a, 2010b).
A site selection team assessed candidate sites in the region
around Erfoud, Merzouga, and other locations during a re-
connaissance mission ( January 29 to February 1, 2012, one
year before the actual mission). Georeferenced photography,
soil and rock sample taking, environmental data recording, as
well as a regional geographical analysis were the activities.
Eighteen research proposals were selected for the
MARS2013 campaign after a peer-review process. Two
proposals had to be phased out later when milestones in
technical readiness reviews could not be reached; three
student-led experiments were added. Following a global call
for participants, applicants from 25 nations applied, and an
OeWF-led committee selected 95 candidates for the field
crew and the Mission Support Center (MSC) crew. Between
September and December 2012, a new class of analog as-
tronauts was trained for the Aouda space suit simulator
(Groemer et al., 2012). Three of these were selected for the
field mission and completed the 10-person field crew for
MARS2013. Their training was modeled after the Apollo
astronaut training (Rask et al., 2007; Lofgren et al., 2011).
Standard operating procedures were developed for the major
simulated exploration activities as well as for the experi-
mental procedures.
Preparatory activities culminated in an all-hands dress
rehearsal on December 7–11, 2012, in Innsbruck, Austria,
where both MSC and field crews conducted training with the
actual expedition hardware and practiced work flows.
3. Test Site and Environmental Parameters
The base station, Camp Weyprecht, was established near
the city of Erfoud, Morocco, at 3121¢55†N, 00404¢15†W
in the Hamar Laghdad Ridge, Tafilalt region, in the eastern
Anti-Atlas (Fig. 1). An additional temporary camp was es-
tablished as Station Payer between February 17 and 21,
2013, at 3053¢59†N, 00352¢29†W. These two sites were
chosen among 17 Moroccan candidate locations for the
following criteria:
(1) Environmental parameters: Acceptable within the
performance envelope of the space suit simulator
Aouda.X and the candidate robotic vehic les (expected
precipitation, temperature and humidity profiles,
wind and gust profiles), absence of metamorphites
(mostly sedimentary), expected sunshine duration
(for the solar power stations), likeliness for dust
devils;
(2) Terrain diversity: Availability of various terrains
pertinent to martian morphologies (sand grain size
distribution for the >100 lm fraction, rocky terrain,
available inclinations, various rock size and density
distributions, lack of vegetation; Fig. 2);
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 361

(3) Available infrastructure: medical and supply infra-
structure, terrain accessibility for heavy convoy ve-
hicles, acceptable security level.
3.1. Geological context of the test site
The study region is located 18 km southeast of Erfoud in
the Tafilalt region, named as Hamar Laghdad Ridge, in the
eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco. The area is dominated by a
Precambrian crystalline basement and a thick deformed
upper-Precambrian and Paleozoic layer, and overlain by an
undeformed Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks. The
Paleozoic sediments were deposited on the epicontinental
shelf of the northern boundary of the West African Craton of
the Gondwana continent (Destombes et al., 1985). During
the Ordovician and the Silurian period, siliciclastic sedi-
ments and carbonates were deposited in the region. In the
Late Silurian, submarine volcanic eruptions created the to-
pographic high of the Hamar Laghdad Ridge. During the
Paleozoic, mud mounds were formed in this region (Fig. 3).
The volcanic sediments were overlain by an Early Devonian
crinoidal limestone referred to as the Kess Kess Formation
(for the stratigraphic scheme, see the work of Belka, 1998).
The mud mounds represent the topmost part of this forma-
tion. In the Middle Devonian shales, nodular limestones and
marls completely buried these mounds; but larger, conical-
shaped ‘‘Hollard mounds’’ formed in the same geological
epoch (Cavalazzi et al., 2007, 2012). For a detailed review
of the regional geology, we refer to the work of Cavalazzi
(2006) for the regional geology and Michard et al. (2008)
for the broader context of the Moroccan geology.
3.2. Mud mounds
Two kinds of mud mounds occur in the study area. The Early
Devonian Kess Kess carbonate mounds are approximately
FIG. 1. The test sites Camp Weyprecht (northern base camp) and Station Payer (southern camp); blue circles indicate
2.5 km from the ‘‘landing site,’’ light blue circles indicate 5 km (map source: Landsat 7). Color images available online at
www.liebertonline.com/ast
362 GROEMER ET AL.

100 m in diameter and on average 30–40 m high conical
shaped features. These have been related to submarine hy-
drothermal vents (Mounji et al., 1998; Joachimski et al.,
1999). Secondly, the Middle Devonian Hollard mounds were
originated by hydrocarbon seepage interaction (Peckmann
et al., 1999). The latter occur in a cluster of 48 mounds on top
of a volcanic massif and exhibit internal crude bedding par-
allel to the mound’s slope. The volcanic outcrops are rare,
located to the base of the Hamar Laghdad, and are buried by
crinoidal limestones.
It should be noted that Early and Middle Devonian
mounds are similar in structure, differentiated by their re-
spective geochemical signatures and biota, which are mostly
typified by large chemosymbiotic fauna and chemosynthetic
microbial systems. The slopes of the mud mounds are
generally steep, 20–65 asymmetrical flanks, which is a
critical issue in regard to the accessibility for researchers
operating in the space suit simulator. The mounds and the
intermound facies are crosscut by a complex neptunian dyke
system. Most of these veins are filled with marine carbon-
ates (Brachert et al., 1992), and chemosynthetic microbial
remains are reported in Cavalazzi et al. (2007, 2012).
Mud volcanism on Mars has also been discussed by
Skinner and Mazzini (2009), and observations suggest evi-
dence for similar processes, for example, in the Acidalia
Planitia on Mars (Oehler and Allen, 2010) or Chryse Planitia
(Komatsu et al., 2012). Hence, we consider the presence of
mud mounds as a potential model system of astrobiological
relevance for Mars exploration.
3.3. Environmental conditions
Atmospheric parameters were logged at Camp Weyprecht
with a Voltcraft DL-181THP environmental logger every
5 min, including during the period of time the sample was
transferred back to the receiving laboratories (i.e., received
on March 31, 2013). Throughout the field campaign,
weather conditions were mostly sunny with temperatures
ranging from - 2.4C to 29.5C (average: 12.9C), a relative
humidity between 0% and 75% (average: 26% RH), and
wind speeds typically at 10 m/s. There were three distinct
episodes of dust storms. Dust devils were observed on a
regular basis at typically 5–10 per day in the vicinity of
Camp Weyprecht. Except for one day without scientific
activities, no rain was reported.
The sand dust grain distribution was measured, with the
dominant fraction having a size of 210 lm. For comparison,
50% of JSC Mars-1 (Carlton et al., 1998) soil simulant has a
particle size of less than 225 lm (Dinwiddie and Sizemore,
2008). It should be noted that airborne particles had a sig-
nificantly smaller size. Looking at the scattering of laser
light by dust particles in the laser-induced fluorescence
emission (L.I.F.E.) instruments (Groemer et al., 2014 in this
issue), we can infer dust sizes of <10 lm (Fig. 4). This is
comparable to airborne dust grain sizes derived from an
analysis of near-Sun scattering data from Mars Exploration
Rovers Spirit and Opportunity Navcam images, which
yielded an effective size range between 1.3 and 1.8 lm
(Soderblum, 2007).
4. Mission Infrastructure
The ambitious mission goals of MARS2013 necessitated
a complex infrastructure installed and connected over four
continents. More than 100 participants from 23 nations were
directly involved in this mission. This section gives an
overview of the infrastructure components.
4.1. The Mars 2013 Mission Support Center
MARS2013 implemented a mission support philosophy,
based on the assumption that flight crew autonomy would
have to increase as a result of delayed communication as
well as the duration of a human Mars mission as compared
FIG. 2. Direct comparison between the Station Payer test site (after a sandstorm causing the hazy atmospheric conditions,
image taken by Katja Zanella-Kux) and Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, observed by Curiosity (image from NASA). Color
images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 363

FIG. 3. (a) Geomap and (b) mud mounds in the Harmar Laghdad region. These Early Devonian mound outcrops have a
typical height of 30–40 m and show crude bedding and steep flanks; their facies and interfacies mounds consist of
fossiliferous limestones. Geological map after Cavalazzi (2006) according to Belka (1998). Color images available online at
www.liebertonline.com/ast
364 GROEMER ET AL.

FIG. 4. Typical grain size distribution of the test site, sampled at the Camp Weyprecht site. The table gives the volume
share per particle size interval (dQ3). Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
FIG. 5. Flight Control Room of the MARS2013 mission. The MSC was located in Innsbruck, Austria. With a size of
500 m
2
, in 12 rooms, the mission management was led from logistics rooms and operational rooms, the latter being
designated to the various MSC teams and equipped accordingly; the central Flight Control Room featured eight permanent
and two nonpermanent positions, three multi-use screens, and multiple time displays. Color images available online at
www.liebertonline.com/ast
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 365

to the average mission duration experienced in low-Earth
orbit. The transfer of autonomy to the crew, especially for
daily scheduling details, has already been suggested to
NASA in view of the long-term operation of the Interna-
tional Space Station (National Research Council, 2000). Our
assumption was that ‘‘control,’’ in the strict term of the
word, would therefore be a hindrance rather than a success
factor for crewed planetary missions operating under such
circumstances. A ‘‘support’’ philosophy, in turn, allows the
mission scenario to develop within a given frame of plan-
ning, monitoring, and structured communication. It also
capitalizes on the main argument for sending humans to
Mars and all it offers, namely, autonomy, independence,
flexibility, and intuition (Hoffman and Kaplan, 1997; National
Research Council, 1997).
The MSC (Fig. 5) was led by a Flight Director (FLIGHT
or FD), supported by a flight support crew and two teams
for Remote Science Support (RSS) and flight planning
(Flightplan). Three additional teams ensured data capturing
and infrastructure functionality: the Science Data Officer and
information technologies (SDO/IT) team, the logistics and
ground support (GS) team, and the media team (MediaCom).
Special care was taken to define the exact work flow be-
tween positions. Due to time and resource restrictions, no
in-depth psychological profiling could be applied to the
staffing of positions, although the mission benefited from
the large pool of human resources and considerable expe-
rience from previous missions (AustroMars in 2006, Rı
´
o
Tinto in 2 01 1, Dach stei n Ice Caves in 2012, and others ).
Main positions in the Flight Control Room included, sans
FLIGHT:
(a) a Flight Director Assistant (FD-A);
(b) a CAPCOM (the single field communication gate-
way; during the critical first week, this position was
staffed, following spaceflight custom, with an OeWF
analog astronaut);
(c) a RECORDS officer responsible for documenting
field and MSC activities;
(d) a licensed physician as the Biomedical Engineer
(BME);
(e) CONTACTS and PROCEDURES officers as single
gateways to ensure communication with external
science teams;
(f ) a science officer as ‘‘front-line’’ manager and Flight
Control Room gateway between RSS and the field
crew’s science operations officer (SCIOPS) position.
The ‘‘single gateway philosophy’’ was an important element
ensuring smooth communication lines. We introduced a
multidisciplined RSS team that had the overall responsi-
bility at the MSC for the operation and readiness of the
experiments conducted. This included the scientific experi-
ment activity planning, time balancing, near-real-time field
data assessment, and evaluation of power and data rate re-
quests from multiple experiments in cooperation with
Flightplan. RSS introduced and maintained throughout the
mission a digital ‘‘living map’’ that provided, on several
data and visual layers, an accurate depiction of all per-
formed activities, GPS points reached, traverses used, data
collected, and images/reports transmitted. This map now
forms part of the Science Data Archive (see below). The
MSC team was complemented by a psychologist who acted
as counseling support in view of the social complexity of
having dozens of international staff working in shifts in a
stressful environment for a period of 5 weeks. The intro-
duction of this position was perceived to positively influence
group dynamics throughout the mission.
In addition to the core center, three external control
centers were coordinated through Innsbruck as follows: (a)
Tasmars Mission Control, Wellington, New Zealand; (b)
the Puli Rover Mission Control, Budapest, Hunga ry; and (c)
the Magma Rover Mission Control, Torun
´
, Poland. Mid-
way through the mission, the Mars Society’s Mars Desert
Research Station in Utah, USA, was integrated into the ar-
chitecture, emulating an independent second Mars station.
Therefore, MARS2013 implemented a mission control and
support network infrastructure over four different continents
and time zones, simultaneously, in real time for Earth sta-
tions and under a 10 min time delay with two separate Mars
crews.
4.2. Flight planning and work flows
The 2013 daily work plan, referred to as the ‘‘flight
plan,’’ comprised three planning documents: (a) a mission
plan (MP), (b) an activity plan (AP), and (c) a traverse plan
(TP). The MP captured the basic planning approach in terms
of scheduling and activity allocation. It was a coarse approach
and underwent several iterations during the pre-mission
planning process, serving as the underlying structure for
the AP. The AP was the detailed plan for each day of the
actual mission. It s che duled field activ ities based upon a 1 h
roster for each field crew member, assoc iated resources,
and other information. The TP was an AP-associated doc-
ument that suggested optimal traverses between two ex-
periment locations regarding safety, efficiency, scientific
interest , and velocity. The need for traverse planning was
directly owed to the MARS2013 mission architecture with
its multiple-experiment, multiple-location, and parallel
extravehicular activity (EVA) approach (Hettrich, 2012;
Sans Fuentes, 20 12 ).
Planning adhered to the prioritization principle of safety-
science-simulation. Due to the simulated time delay of
10 min one-way for communication between the field crew
and the MSC, a real-time planning response (i.e., directing
the analog astronaut from the MSC, adjusting the AP in real
time, etc.) was not applicable. Instead, the AP and associ-
ated TP were elaborated by Flightplan and approved by the
MSC authority 3 days before the respective execution day
(T-3). The AP for each target day, once approved, was
transmitted to the field 2 days in advance, underwent final
verification during a special daily briefing (T-23 briefing),
was then made known to all MSC teams on duty, and was
implemented accordingly on the target day. The field crew
was given the autonomy to conduct the planned tasks;
however, the MSC had the authority to contact and instruct
the crew by using the time-delayed communication chan-
nel. Deviations owing to the use of field autonomy by the
crew were duly recorded; any such divergence was then
assessed by Flightplan and, if found useful, influenced fu-
ture APs/TPs. Planning and task execution went flaw-
lessly over the mission period, with the first 2 weeks needed
to find a routine practice and adjust certain parameters
as imposed by environmental constraints (communication
366 GROEMER ET AL.

availability, technical shortcomings in the field, human
factors, meteorological factors, etc.). An important factor
was the building-in of regular free days (referred to as
‘‘black days’’) for the field crew and the MSC to allow for
recreation.
MARS2013 introduced a standard daily interface con-
ference between selected MSC and field personnel. This
real-time, out-of-simulation virtual meeting was scheduled
every day after the end of the AP (usually around 2000
UTC) and allowed for necessary information exchange and
real-time adjustments. Meeting participants were high-level
management members and included the positions of
FLIGHT, Expedition Lead (EXLEAD), and expedition
medical doctor (DOC) with their respective assistants. This
daily update, limited to a maximum duration of 1 h, proved
to be an important element of the mission management ar-
chitecture but would be unavailable during a real mission
scenario. It was justified by the fact that the MARS2013
design foresaw closed ‘‘in simulation’’ periods (which were
defined as the time intervals between the end of the space
suit donning process and the start of the space suit doffing
process) instead of running a full-time simulation scenario.
From a psychological point of view, the daily debriefings
released tensions accumulated during the time-delayed
communication periods; it was therefore also considered a
‘‘pressure valve’’ for teams on ‘‘Mars’’ and ‘‘Earth.’’ For
the details for the flight planning algorithm see the work of
Hettrich et al. (2014 in this issue).
4.3. Standard operating procedures and contingency
situation planning
Mission operations followed a set of predefined standard
operating procedures. There was a total of 16 procedures
grouped in 7 procedure ‘‘families’’ (contingency, simula-
tion, management and planning, science, communication,
ground support, field) and a set of medical standard proce-
dures, all of them tested in pre-simulation scenarios (e.g.,
the MARS2013 dress rehearsal in December 2012).
Contingency planning is an essential feature of space
mission management (Dole, 1967; Kortenkamp, 2003;
Summers et al., 2005). The MARS2013 contingency plan-
ning included three color-coded contingency situations: (a)
Code Red, a real emergency situation; (b) Code Orange, a
simulated emergency situation (either planned or introduced
ad hoc to test procedures and work flows under abnormal
circumstances); (c) Lock Down Code, defined as the sudden
freeze of all positions and activities during a disastrous real-
life emergency situation (e.g., severe injury, death). During
the mission, no Code Red had to be declared, while a Code
Orange situation was declared for a simulated sprained an-
kle of one of the EVA crew members.
4.4. Field camp
The field crew consisted of 10 staff permanently located at
the (field) base (Fig. 6) for the duration of the mission, in-
cluding four team members as certified analog astronauts.
FIG. 6. The operations stations at the base station in Morocco before initiating an EVA. Consoles from back to front:
Operations Lead, CAPCOM BASE, Science Operations, Medical Monitoring (not visible in the picture). (Photo by Katja
Zanella-Kux.) Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 367

Additional positions were (a) the EXLEAD (the Flight Di-
rector equivalent in the field); (b) the DOC (a field-experienced
physician); (c) the TECH/COM officers [including the scien-
tific SCIOPS position and the operations lead (OPS)]; (d) the
quartermaster; and (e) the photographer and documentation
officer. The base camp had provisions for electrical power,
lights, five large tents (operations, storage, kitchen/social,
workshop, and social/clean room tents), living tents, and
basic hygiene facilities. The test site was closed to the public
within a perimeter of 5 km by police checkpoints and
electronic and aerial surveillance systems.
In addition to the main camp, a short-duration station
(Station Payer) was established to allow for a long-range
excursion of a four-person detachment 80 km south from the
main base. This scenario was based on the NASA Design
Reference Architecture 5.0 (Drake, 2009), which proposes
at least one pressurized rover that could sustain astronauts
for a few days when operating in larger distances (up to
several hundred kilometers) off the original base camp and
allows flexible range extension during martian surface ex-
ploration. It was decided it should execute a 2-day EVA
scenario, with one preparation and one return day in addi-
tion, that is, 4 days (February 17–20).
The MARS2013 mission implemented a strict 10 min
communication delay (one-way) during each simulation
period. Thus, in total, 130 simulation hours were operated in
time-delay mode. The field crew was connected to the MSC
via satellite and a broadband 3G connection. The connec-
tivity of the MSC was ensured via an LTE (4G) broadband
access provided by the T-Mobile company, and the satellite
connection in the field was managed by BusinessCom
Networks utilizing a 2.4m broadband antenna linked to the
NSS-10 satellite. The MSC broadband connectivity effec-
tively provided up to 12.5 MB/s download capacity.
The MARS2013 IT-Infrastructure consisted of four ele-
ments: (a) the MSC with the MSC server as a core unit, (b)
the base camp (field), (c) external users, (d) the OeWF
server located at the space suit laboratory in Innsbruck. Each
of these four elements was self-sufficient; that is, in case of
loss of connection of any of the elements, the field crew and
the MSC were still able to work within their own network.
4.5. Communication infrastructure
One of the rarely studied limitations for human missions
due to the distances between Mars and Earth is the time
delay, which implicitly requires a careful balance in the
decision-making processes between the field crews and
mission support (Sheridan, 1993) and has been studied
mainly for rover-only terrestrial field tests, such as the
Nomad rover mission in the Atacama Desert (Bapna et al.,
1998). This time-delayed link is emulated by using readily
available, mainly open-source technology, supplemented by
custom-tailored software elements. In this section, we
present our setup used and its operational ramifications.
As suggested by the NASA Design Reference Mission 5.0
(Drake, 2009), we incorporated two major expected com-
munication and tele-operation constraints: bandwidth limi-
tations and high signal latency due to interplanetary
distances. Previously, the NASA Desert RATS 2011 field
test studied the setup during a simulated near-Earth asteroid
mission (Abercromby et al., 2013), with elements similar to
MARS2013. Whereas Desert RATS 2011 used a 50 s time
delay, MARS2013 was based on a 10 min delay, which
necessitates a different work flow.
A possible approach for communication during a human
Mars mission is to build an interplanetary internet, based
upon existing terrestrial technologies adapted for harsh en-
vironments, and then interlink this ‘‘martian Internet’’ to
Earth’s Internet via a new suite of protocols developed for
this purpose (Burleigh et al., 2003a, 2003b). Our approach
(Fig. 7) reflected this concept by establishing two high-
bandwidth, low-latency networks interconnected via a low-
bandwidth but high-latency link. The engineering team did
not insert a delay into generic internet protocols but utilized
unmodified standard protocols by adapting existing software
and development of new applications where necessary. This
approach greatly reduced the programming effort and fa-
cilitated compatibility with existing communication proto-
cols, for example, used by instruments or rovers.
4.5.1. Infrastructure overview. Based upon a standard
Internet protocol (IP) network, data were routed to a gate-
way machine connected to the Internet by Ethernet and
IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless networks in the field. The gate-
way connected to a virtual private network (VPN) provided
by the main server, which then handled the distribution of
all data. The MSC and external researchers could also
connect to the main server to retrieve the data. In the MSC,
the VPN connection was handled by a dedicated server that
acted as a network gateway to route all traffic.
In this scenario, all communication between the field
operation and other VPN clients was simulated as inter-
planetary communication. Since the main server already
acted as a central point of data distribution, it handled most
of the work for introducing a delay.
4.5.2. Simulating communication. Audio communication
between the two Aouda space suit simulators and the base
station was achieved with Mumble, an ‘‘open source, low-
latency, high quality voice chat software’’
1
. Because of the
time delay, audio conversations between the Mars station and
Earth were unfeasible. To improve situational awareness of
the MSC, a one-way audio stream from the field was pro-
vided. In Mumble, users can join different channels, and only
users within the same channel can hear each other in the
default configuration. We used this property for simulation by
separating staff at simulated Mars and Earth into distinct
channels. Audio from one channel then was recorded and
retransmitted by the open source python script ‘‘eve-bot’’
2
in
the second channel after the configured amount of time had
passed. Although originally intended to be used by gamers
with a typical delay of 90 s, our tests demonstrated that it also
performs stably with delays of up to several dozens of min-
utes. The bot connects to both channels, as normal users and
buffers received audio packets in a first in, first out (FIFO)
queue before retransmitting them. Memory usage of the bot
was not an issue because 10 min of a typical Mumble audio
stream that uses 54.8 kilobits per second has a size of ap-
proximately 4 MB. This amount of data can be safely stored
in the buffers used in Python.
1
http://mumble.sourceforge.net
2
http://frymaster.127001.org/mumble
368 GROEMER ET AL.

Time-delayed two-way audio communication between
Earth and Mars is difficult to keep up with in practice, as
there is a large time span between asking a question and
actually hearing the reply, while hearing replies to earlier
questions in the meantime. Therefore a text-based system for
supplementary information transfer was adapted as a client-
server application. The server component registered users
into two groups, ‘‘Mars’’ and ‘‘Earth,’’ and took messages
with time stamp into a queue before sending it to all members
of the sender’s group. After the configured delay had passed
for a message, the server forwarded it to the other group. An
automatic transcription of the voice communication by means
of speech recognition was not possible, as some of the con-
tent was safety-critical. The expected false recognition rate of
speech recognition would be above the acceptable level for
these critical elements, especially in an environment with
factors such as high background noise.
In the field, various video streams were available (e.g.,from
the helmet camera of Aouda as MPEG-4 stream via Real-time
Transport Protocol in a size of 640 · 480 pixels). To minimize
bandwidth usage for video data, a single frame of the suit
videos was transmitted every 10 s to the MSC. The feedback
from users during the mission preparation showed that this was
the lowest possible frame rate where users perceive the situa-
tional awareness as sufficiently high enough for their respec-
tive task. The selection of frames and transmitting them with
the suitable delay was realized by using the VLC media player.
Delaying a stream with VLC was realized by using the module
‘‘stream_out_delay,’’ and single images were extracted by
using the ‘‘scene’’ video filter. The most recently generated
images were then periodically uploaded to the central server by
way of a Linux shell script over a SSH connection.
A difficulty when combining and using these different
programs and scripts together was their different behavior
FIG. 7. Overview of the communication infrastructure used during the MARS2013 mission. Color images available
online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 369

when network failures occurred, for example, in the case
that the network connection to the space suit simulator was
lost. While some software was able to recover on its own
after the working condition of dependencies had been re-
stored, other programs stopped their execution or required a
user input. To counter this problem and simplify configu-
ration, a Linux shell was scripted permanently to monitor
the status of problematic software and the availability of the
network services the software depended on. The script itself
was configured with the known behavior of the monitored
software for the most frequently occurring problems. It was
then able to restart the processes in case a possible failure
was detected and the software was known to behave dif-
ferently from expectations. This ensured that all the differ-
ent software solutions deployed showed a comparable
behavior in terms of service availability and reliability.
In general, the chosen solutions did not require any major
modifications of used open source software and also only
required limited development time on new applications.
While larger modifications or more complex software de-
velopment would enable the use of enhanced fault detection
and recovery techniques matching the exact problem type
within the software, our approach solves the issues suffi-
ciently in regard to the simulation requirements and required
significantly less development resources.
4.5.3. Impact on the Mission Support Center. Simulating
the delay that occurs in interplanetary communications also
had a significant impact on the work flows in the MSC. An
unfamilia r ity with this wa y of comm un ic atin g resulte d in
an increased stress level among the staff observing the
operation without a means by which to intervene. Getting
used to the delay required a building of trust in the deci-
sions of the field crew, yielding a more strategic thinking in
the MSC, and less step-by-step surveillance. In particular,
the biomedical engineering team had to anticipate off-
nominal medical conditions such as exhaustion. Hence, we
noted that a high situational awareness—even with time
delay—is a critical factor for mission support capability
and astronaut safety.
4.6. Documentation and recording
Documentation and recording followed standard space-
flight management practice (see e.g., NASA Procedural
Requirements 7120.5D). A dedicated flight controller posi-
tion (RECORDS) archived all mission-relevant parameters
in real time, including (a) field activities (split by functions
with a focus on EVAs), (b) MSC activities, (c) meteoro-
logical details, (d) general observations, (e) lessons learned.
Per day, an average of 600 entries were recorded. REC-
ORDS was vital for the recording of the ‘‘as-was flight
plan,’’ which in turn was an element of the AP development
and the Science Data Archive (SDA).
5. The Experiments
The MARS2013 team conducted 19 experiments while
in the field (16 peer-reviewed and 3 student or industrial
experiments), which were focused on medical, geoscience,
astrobiological, psychological, and technology- and operation-
related items. All conducted experiments are listed in Table 1.
During the field campaign, the data from all experiments
were collected, screened, and stored for later processing via
a dedicated function within the MSC—the SDO/IT. Its role
was to manage the acquisition and archiving of experiment-
specific and environmental data during field missions of the
OeWF. Over the long-term perspective, the SDO/IT ensures
that experiment data are accessible after the missions,
building an organizational body of knowledge. This is
achieved through the SDA.
The SDA is an online archival system that provides the
metadata catalogue of all OeWF analog missions. For each
mission, users are able to see the entirety of experiments that
were run, their objectives, description, and principal inves-
tigator (PI) details. Thus, users are given an idea of the type
of information that each experiment can provide.
6. Deployable Emergency Shelter Experiment
To increase the range of exploration for astronauts and the
safety during contingency situations, the team of the Vienna
University of Technology proposed an additional crew
support element: a portable and deployable shelter that can
be employed in the event of an emergency that requires
immediate action and where return to the base/rover is not
immediately possible without undue risk.
Following the study of potential emergency scenarios and
the definition of design criteria, a series of preliminary de-
signs for an emergency shelter have been developed within
an academic architectural design studio. The 1:1 prototype
was tested during MARS2013 as part of an operational
evaluation of this multipurpose shelter. In the following, the
potential emergency scenarios and the design criteria for an
emergency shelter are introduced.
6.1. Contingency scenarios
Potential emergency scenarios were discussed and de-
veloped, based upon NASA DRM 5.0 (Drake, 2009) and the
HUMEX study (Horneck and Comet, 2006). A number of
critical situations were considered relevant to EVA on the
martian surface, three of which were considered to have
sufficiently high criticality and probability to be studied in
detail:
(A) An astronaut loses consciousness but is still breathing.
(B) An astronaut becomes exhausted and has to rest for a
time.
(C) An astronaut falls down and suffers from a traumatic
injury and/or space suit malfunction.
These scenarios provided the use cases that dictate the
functional and spatial requirements, such as the minimal
interior working envelope necessary for the emergency
shelter. This is related to other design criteria like the
maximum size and weight possible to be carried by one
astronaut.
6.2. Design criteria
Design criteria for the shelter were driven by the re-
spective EVA suit design. Depending upon the selected suit,
design parameters will change, such as the ergonomic shape
and size. The current design of the shelter was developed to
be used in conjunction with the Aouda space suit simulators
370 GROEMER ET AL.

(Groemer et al., 2012), whereas rear-entry suits such as the
NASA Z-1 space suit (Ross, 2013) would require a signif-
icantly different design approach.
The design principles for the shelter concept were for-
mulated as follows:
(1) The shelter should be compactly packed into an
emergency package with a mass of less than 20 kg
(corresponding to 6.6 kg on Mars) and deployable by
a single astronaut.
(2) The package should contain the emergency shelter
(MASH), a contingency power supply for the space
suit, as well as a food/water/air/tool kit supply.
(3) The emergency package should be transportable by a
rover and carried by one astronaut when leaving the
rover
(4) It should accommodate up to two astronauts wearing
space suits, for example, one injured astronaut and
one assisting rescuer.
(5) The shelter should temporarily provide a breathable
atmosphere (to take the helmet and/or gloves off )
with the same atmospheric pressure as the space suit.
(6) An outer layer should isolate the interior of the shelter
from the ground and provide topographic adjustabil-
ity to accommodate for different terrain types (rocks,
uneven or sloped terrain, etc.)
Table 1. List of the MARS2013 Experiments
Experiment Description Organization, PI
AMFS-MEDINC MEDical emergency database with recording of INCidents
and near incidents in all participants during analog Mars
field simulations (multimission project)
Medical University
Innsbruck, T.J. Luger
AMFS-SEG Stress, emotion and group dynamics of the crew in the field
and the members of the MSC during analog Mars field
simulations (multimission project)
Medical University
Innsbruck, T.J. Luger
Antipodes Antipodes is an operations experiment where a loss of
communication to Earth was simulated. A parallel
landing party on the other side of Mars is requested to
take over the coordination of an ongoing EVA.
Kiwispace, New Zealand, H.
Mogosanu
Aouda MAT Medical data acquisition under various physical workload
conditions and biomedical data telemetry (multimission
study)
Medical University
Innsbruck, T.J. Luger
Aouda.X/.S Operational and engineering tests with two space suit
simulators
Austrian Space Forum, AT,
G.E. Groemer
Cliffbot CRV Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle: a human-guided steep terrain
explorer
Association Plane
`
te Mars,
FR, A. Souchier
DELTA Human factors—work economics, time delay for an analog
astronaut with and without Aouda.X
Austrian Space Forum, AT,
A. Soucek
Deployable Shelter Deployable Emergency Shelter suitcase for astronauts University of Technology,
Vienna, AT, S. Ha
¨
uplik-
Meusburger
ERAS C3 Command and control software project for data processing
in the field
Mars Society Italy, F.
Carbonari
Geosciences Geoscience RSS experiments; included the management of
all geophysical and astrobiological research activities as
well as a mapping study
University of Budapest and
University of Innsbruck, C.
Orgel, M. Rampey, I.
Go1e˛biowska
Hunveyor-4 Surveyor-class robotic lander with remote access Eo
¨
tvo
¨
s Lora
´
nd University
Budapest, HU, G. Hudoba
LTMS-MOROCCO Long-term medical monitoring system, biomedical chest
vest
CSEM, CH, M. Correvon
Magma White rover Pathfinder-class rover system, mobility and human-robotic
interaction
ABM Space Education, M.
Jo
´
zefowicz
MAT-EP Routine medical survey during OeWF field campaigns;
includes a field incident reporting system
Medical University
Innsbruck, T.J. Luger
MEDIAN Methane Detection by In Situ Analysis with Nano-Landers University College London,
UK, J. McArthur
microEVA Luminescence detection of viable bacterial spores and
terbium microspheres to study contamination vectors
during EVAs
NASA JPL, California
Institute of Technology, A.
Ponce
OPS-Box White An ergonomics and thermodynamics test for a foldable
computer workplace
Austrian Space Forum, AT,
G. Groemer
Peniculus A student-led experiment on the efficiency of a cleaning
mechanism for solar power cells
Austrian Space Forum, AT,
G. Groemer
Puli rover Mobility tests for the Hungarian Google Lunar X-Prize
rover
GLXP Space Technologies,
HU, T. Pacher
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 371

(7) To maintain minimal volume, the structure should be
adaptable to the functional requirements of the as-
tronauts (different body positions).
6.3. Prototype development and testing
Based on these requirements, an activity-based spatial
analysis (Ha
¨
uplik-Meusburger, 2011; Ha
¨
uplik-Meusburger
and Petrova, 2013) defined the relationship between the
human activities during contingency situation and potential
architectural solutions. Deployable systems like pneumatic
systems, deployable bar and surface structures, hanging
films, and bells (Petrova, 2008; Ha
¨
uplik-Meusburger et al.,
2009; Ha
¨
uplik-Meusburger and Petrova, 2013) were studied.
Basic kinematic concepts were worked out, and use cases
were simulated and led to a mechanical prototype (Fig. 8).
The shelter has a ball-like shape and consists of two iden-
tical curved surfaces supported by glass-reinforced plastic.
During storage and transportation, it is folded into a disc of
80 cm diameter and 15 cm thickness, and in its fully de-
ployed status it has a height of approximately 180 cm with
pneumatic cushions that allow for the inflation of the interior
furniture and the base plate for thermal and mechanical
insulation.
The prototype was designed to provide functional
adaptability that allows for both sitting and lying positions
depending on the required activity. In total, three prototypes
were developed and tested. The second prototype was tested
with the suit tester during a dress rehearsal meeting in Inns-
bruck. The third mock-up was then tested during a field
simulation in the Sahara (Fig. 9), dealing with the three
predefined contingency scenarios. The shelter was inflated
by an electrical air compressor (emulating a pressure bottle),
was not (at this time) hermetically sealed for safety reasons,
and did not contain a power supply.
During the field tests, the handling was successfully
demonstrated for the full deployment cycle:

Handling and transportation of the mock-up in packed
state and transportation

Deployment of the structure, including opening the
package and inflating the floor membrane

Deployment of the structure under different topological
conditions

Retraction of the shelter and performance of the
pneumatic system
The ergonomic usability and its adaptability were evaluated
for the following criteria:

Interaction between the proposed structure and its users
(handling and activities in the shelter)

Off-nominal situations to test the flexibility of the
prototype

Ergonomic and spatial suitability to actions

Individual perception of comfort in relation to these
activities
The evaluation was based upon a comparison between the
shelter deployment behavior under controlled (laboratory)
conditions versus the deployment in the field (to account for
the influence of dust), as well as a subjective assessment by
the developers and by the on-site team including the analog
astronauts, and a post-mission inspection of the wear-and-
FIG. 8. Early prototype design (rendering: TU Wien, HB2). Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
372 GROEMER ET AL.

tear patterns of the hardware. The evaluation demonstrated
the expected good functionality of the mock-up.
We suggest that future designs should be tested in more
extreme environments such as sandstorms in the Saharan
desert and the low temperatures of the Arctic or a combina-
tion of low temperatures, extreme winds, and low barometric
pressure such as that encountered during high-altitude
mountaineering.
7. Lessons Learned
In retrospect, the MARS2013 mission infrastructure
showed a high degree of operational and infrastructure ro-
bustness and usability. Cornerstones were (a) a large pool of
experience from managing and conducting analog missions
since 2005; (b) the integration of an international team of
both professionals and students, with a nucleus of experi-
enced OeWF staff; (c) the careful and timely preparation of
the technical infrastructure including independent IT in the
main locations; and (d) the substantial assistance of the
Moroccan government in terms of local infrastructure,
maintenance, and security. MARS2013 also brought a
wealth of lessons learned. One of the most important ob-
servations to be considered for future missions is the ne-
cessity to train key MSC personnel and the field crew as a
single entity. By this method, it may be possible to minimize
an ‘ ‘us-versus-them’’ teams identity phenomenon (Battler
et al., 2011) between ‘‘Earth’’ and ‘‘Mars’’ personnel as a
result of restricted personal interaction. Although MARS2013
was prone to suffer from this phenomenon due to the un-
availability of real-time communication during simulation
periods along with high stress factors, escalations could be
avoided thanks to a careful work flow, near real-time psy-
chological support, and standard operating procedure design.
Another key factor with regard to a sustainable analog mis-
sion infrastructure is the gradual mitigation of workforce
resource bottlenecks (e.g., single experts who might not be
available for a future mission). This can only be achieved
through continued training of an enlarged expert group for all
key functions.
Acknowledgments
We greatly acknowledge the support of the Ibn Battuta
Centre for exploration, Morocco, in particular Gian Gabriele
Ori and Kamal Taj-Eddine, the cooperation of the Moroccan
Ministry for Higher Education and the Austrian Embassy in
Morocco as well as the Moroccan Gendarmerie Royal for
providing logistics and administrative support. The MARS2013
mission was conducted in partnership with ABM Space
Education (Poland), Association Plane
`
te Mars (France),
CSEM (Switzerland), Ecole Nat. Sup. de Cognitique
(France), Eo
¨
tvo
¨
s Lora
´
nd University (Hungary), GLXP
Space Technologies (Hungary), Italian Mars Society (Italy),
Kiwispace Foundation (New Zealand), Medical Univ. of
Innsbruck (Austria), Medical Univ. of Graz (Austria),
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA), O
´
buda Univ.
(Hungary), Alba Regia Univ. Centre (Hungary), University
FIG. 9. Inflation of the Deployable Shelter after a ‘‘suspected ankle distorsion’’ (photo: OeWF, Katja Zanella-Kux). Color
images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ast
THE MARS2013 MARS ANALOG MISSION 373

College London (United Kingdom), Technical Univ. of
Vienna (Austria), University of Innsbruck (Austria), Uni-
versity of Vienna (Austria). We would like to thank the
industrial partners for their contributions: BusinessCom,
UK; Catalysts, Austria; Dra
¨
ger Safety, Austria; Fair Rescue
International, Austria; LANCOM, Germany; Motorola So-
lutions, Austria; Space Applications Services, Belgium; T-
Mobile, Austria; TECHCOS, Germany; and HootSuite Pro,
California, USA. The authors would also like to thank the
Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research,
Sparkling Science Programme (SPA04-147, CAVE.LIFE),
as well as the Austrian Red Cross, Innsbruck branch.
The Austrian Space Forum greatly appreciate d the sup-
port of more than 100 volunteers from 23 nations who en-
abled this mission. For this paper, the authors have made use
of the OeWF Multi-Mission Data Archive at http://mission
.oewf.org/archive.
The Deployable Shelter team would further like to thank
the students of the Vienna University of Technology, De-
partment HB2: F. Aigner, O. Benesch, T. Dineff, N. Flieger,
D. Galonja, N. Gutscher, K. Josipovic, N. Karhan, Z. Ker-
ekretyova, Th. Kropatschek, R. Mathe, Th. Milchram, M.
Mitrovits, B. Mrowetz, A. Mulic, A. Nanu, J. O
¨
hreneder, T.
Pavlovic, M. Puchalski, K. Rainer, M. Scherz, N. Tica, S.
Toussaint, K. Stefan, K. Zodl; the medical consultants of the
Crew Medical Support Office, European Astronaut Centre;
the consultants for prototyping: M. Schultes and I. Dersch-
midt, as well as R. Gerzer (DLR, Cologne) for his early
input to the project concept. The Deployable Shelter project
has been supported by RUAG Space and Maritime Wien.
Author Disclosure Statement
The authors state that no competing financial interests
exist.
Abbreviations
AP, activity plan.
Desert RATS, Desert Research and Technology Studies.
EVA, extravehicular activity.
FLIGHT, Flight Director.
Flightplan, flight planning.
MP, mission plan.
MSC, Mission Support Center.
OeWF, Austrian Space Forum (O
¨
sterreichisches Weltraum
Forum).
RSS, Remote Science Support.
SDA, Science Data Archive.
SDO/IT, Science Data Officer and information technologies.
TP, traverse plan.
VPN, virtual private network.
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Gernot Groemer
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Sillufer 3a
6020 Innsbruck
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E-mail: gernot.groemer@oewf.org
Submitted 5 July 2013
Accepted 30 March 2014
376 GROEMER ET AL.

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