Day 21: 31 October 2021
21 days ago, today the AMADEE-20 habitat in the Ramon crater was officially inaugurated. On this day our 6 analog astronauts waved good-bye to our team in Israel to start the isolation phase. For 21 days they didn’t know how it is to go outside without a spacesuit on. Welcome back on Earth João, Inigo, Anika, Alon, Robert and Thomas!
Photo from left: Roni Marom (Head of Municipality Mitzpe Ramon), Gernot Grömer (OeWF), Ambassador Hanna Liko, Shai-Lee Spigelman (Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology)
(c) OeWF / Florian Voggeneder

Day 20: 30 October 2021
Today is the last EVA (extra vehicular activity) for the analog astronauts during the AMADEE-20 Mars simulation.  In Station Nightfall – last night on #simulateMars.  The AMADEE-20 Mars habitat is the home of our 6 analog astronauts since more than 20 days.  It consists of a crew module (6x12m), short corridor, a science & command module (radius 9 m) and an airlock. The habitat is provided by the Israel Space Agency and D-MARS, based upon the foldable D-MARS station design . Sleep well on your last night on #simulateMars.
(c) OeWF / Florian Voggeneder

Day 19: 28 October 2021
Today is the last EVA (extra vehicular activity) for the analog astronauts during the AMADEE-20 Mars simulation.  In order to leave the Mars habitat in the Negev desert, the analog astronauts must don the Aouda spacesuit simulator. Worldwide only 2 of these 50kg “small spaceships to wear” exist. On the photo you can see analog astronaut Robert Wild. (c) OeWF / Florian Voggeneder

Day 18: 28 October 2021 – Blackday

Day 17: 27 October 2021
To ensure the psychological health of the individual analog astronauts and the entire crew at all times, the MSG experiment (Movement, Space and Group health in a confined area) monitors their well-being on a daily basis. Not only their emotional states are being analyzed, but also the movements of each individual in the habitat. Temperature and humidity in the habitat are both measured regularly, which then allows to identify places of the habitat that are visited by the crew more often than others. The picture shows the areas where the individuals have been at three different times in one day: 11^th of October from 06:00 – 09:00, 12:00 – 15:00, and 18:00 –  21:00. This way, the architectural design of the habitat can be analyzed, and sociological problems within the crew can be identified and addressed at an early stage.
Credits: PI David Michaeli MPH, Head of R&D Eco-encounter study institute.
Movement sensors: Yaron Shavit, Intrapozition, Israel. MSG IT: Eli Israeli,
GIS outcomes: Adi Ben-Nun Ms.C Head of GIS Center Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Israel Tauber MsC. CEO –   Thema – Enviromental Planning & GIS.

Day 16: 26 October 2021
Im MSC in Innsbruck durften wir Seine Exzellenz, den Botschafter von Israel in Österreich, Herrn Mordechai Rodgold, At the MSC in Innsbruck we had the pleasure to welcome His Excellency, the Ambassador of Israel in Austria, Mr. Mordechai Rodgold, together with his wife and daughter. After a short presentation about the ÖWF and the AMADEE-20 mission currently taking place, there was a guided tour through the MSC including time-delayed communication with the Israeli analog astronaut Alon Tenzer. Ambassador Rodgold: “Behatzlacha on your international space mission!”
from left: Flight Director Reinhard Tlustos, Ambassador Mordechai Rodgold, Flight Director Willibald Stumptner (c) OeWF (Claudia Stix)

Day 15: 25 October 2021
During our #AMADEE20 Mars simulation, we are testing the MELT 3D printer together with @ESA. We want to investigate whether 3D printing can support us in scientific experiments in a remote and harsh environment like Mars. For example, we can use the printer to quickly reprint sample collection containers or tools for various experiments. More details about the MELT 3D printer: www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/10/MELT_3D_printer

Day 14: 24 October 2021
After an EVA, the analog astronauts return to the habitat. However, in order to not bring any dust or other dirt particles back inside, they have to go through the airlock. This also ensures pressure equalization. Because the air pressure on Mars is only 0.6% of that on Earth. The airlock as a central element for astronautical Mars missions is being investigated as part of a separate experiment (Marslock). (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder) 

Day 13: 23 October 2021 – Blackday

Day 12: 22 October 2021
Shadow of an analog astronaut – To ensure the safety of the analog astronauts during EVAs on site and at any time, they are accompanied by our Safeties (part of the OSS team). However, they only intervene when the safety of the analog astronauts is at risk. Otherwise, they stay in the background without even being noticed by them. On Mars, astronauts would also have to cope without Safeties. (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder) 

Day 11: 21 October 2021
Different rock and soil samples are being collected and analyzed during AMADEE-20. The picture shows a geologist working as a member of the OSS team (On-Site Support) dripping acid on an analog Mars rock to analyze it for carbonates. The analog astronauts perform the same task – of course under more difficult conditions by wearing a space suit simulator. However, they had only a relatively short geology training in contrast to professionally trained geologists, which is why GEOS Compare specifically investigates these differences. (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder) 

Day 10: 20 October 2021
A selfie from Mars!
One of the most exciting tasks astronauts need to do during a mission are EVAs, i.e. Extra Vehicular Activities. For EVAs during AMADEE-20, our analog astronauts wear so-called space suit simulators and conduct experiments. Although these tasks are very stressful and demanding, analog astronaut João Lousada still managed to take a selfie with his colleague Anika Mehlis. (c) OeWF

Day 09: 19 October 2021
The AMADEE-20 Mars simulation is managed by the Mission Support Center (MSC) in Innsbruck, Austria. The focus is to support our teams in Israel, a real time oversight as known from a Mission Control Center for the International Space Station is not possible due to the 10-minute time delay.  The photo shows a briefing of all MSC stations inside the Flight Control Room. (c) OeWF

Day 08: 18 October 2021
The Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) is pleased to receive a video message from ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher on the occasion of the currently running Mars mission simulation AMADEE-20 in Israel. In his video message, the Director General of the European Space Agency refers to the experiments that are being carried out in cooperation with ESA as part of AMADEE-20 and congratulates the OeWF on this commendable professional project with high international visibility. He praises the broad international cooperation of AMADEE-20 and emphasized that precisely this international cooperation is indispensable for any kind of space activity.

Day 07: 17 October 2021
Safety. Science. Simulation – this is the 3-S principle of all our analog simulations.  The safety of our crews on Earth and especially on #simulateMars has the highest priority. In the picture you can see Dr. Marlene Cherruault, MEDO (Medical Doctors) and Dr. Christian Schwarz, Safety on our Ranger vehicle in Israel. During each EVA a MEDO monitors the medical suit data in real time, while in the MSC our BME’s (Biomedical Engineers = physicians) get this data with a 10-minute time delay. (c) OeWF

Day 06: 16 October 2021 – Blackday

Day 05: 15 October 2021
A beautiful aerial view of our mission site in the Ramon crater in the Negev desert in Israel. You can see the AMADEE-20 habitat, the solar panels for power generation (provided by the Kahana group) and the transport containers. The round module is the science/command module with the airlock to get outwards – for the flight crew, of course, only in the space suit simulator. The trapezoid module is the crew module with a small kitchen in which our analog astronauts also sleep. (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder);

Day 04: 14 October 2021
Our flight crew in isolation will be supported for the first time by the On-Site Support team (OSS) to make the Mars simulation even more realistic. This team is a mix of analog astronauts, experienced field crew members and representatives from D-Mars. They are coordinated by the MSC and usually do not interact directly with the flight crew, but act in the background as “ghosts of Mars” and take care of e.g. the communication infrastructure in the field. (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)

Day 03: 13 October 2021
The picture with our analog astronaut Dr. Robert Wild and the principal investigators of the AMAZE experiment, Christian Brommer, Martin Scheiber and Alessandro Fornasier (from right), was taken shortly before the isolation phase. The drone of the researchers from the University of Klagenfurt is equipped with an algorithm comparable to that of NASA’s Mars helicopter. The camera is used to visually detect the environment, sense obstacles, and allow safe navigation in the surrounding area. (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)

Day 02: 12 October 2021
At the Mission Support Center (MSC) in Innsbruck, currently the AMADEE-20 headquarter of the OeWF, team members are actively involved in experiments. They not only supervise the experiments by supporting the field crew, but are part of experiments themselves. Here: MSC team members are working on the psychological INTERTEAM experiment of the University of Bremen, which looks at the psychological effects of cooperation in stressful situations. (c) OeWF

Day 01: 11 October 2021
The isolation phase of the six-member field crew starts today. With their field research, the international science teams and the analog astronauts bring us a little closer to a future Mars mission. Our analog astronauts in their Aouda space suit simulators are seen in front of the crew’s Mars habitat in the Ramon Crater in Israel.
(c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)

Day 00: 10th October 2021
We are writing OeWF history: The first time an all-female EVA (extravehicular activity) has been conducted by our two analog astronauts Anika Mehlis and Carmen Köhler. On the photo, you see them in our AOUDA-spacesuits, walking at the Mars analog site in the Negev desert in Israel. This was an unique opportunity in the bridgehead phase, as only Anika Mehlis will be part of the isolated flight crew and Carmen Köhler will support us within the On Site Support Team.
(c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)

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