The primary mission profile is the transfer, application and utilisation of scientific payloads, both during single robotic missions and in cooperation with analogue astronauts as human component. Due to the exposed operational area, Phileas shall communicate with mission control via satellite link. Using such a gateway Phileas receives transferred data; but it can also serve as relay station / interface towards to analogue astronauts.
The new rover will be developed and constructed in Austria in the course of 2007-2008. Following a synergetic approach, it shall make use of design and operation “lessons learned” from the AustroMars mission rover. Selection of payload instruments shall be done via an „Announcement of Opportunity“, with subsequent payload selection by an expert evaluation board until the end of 2007.
Mission profile
The primary mission profile is the transfer, application and utilisation of scientific payloads, both during single robotic missions and in cooperation with analogue astronauts as human component.
„Alpine Test“: The first testing step (focusing on the rover’s functional parameters) shall take place on suitable surface terrain in Austria. The rover shall be commanded from a mobile mission control centre. Subject of the test are all rover functions, component interoperability, rover performance in difficult terrain and others.
„Desert Operation“: The second testing step shall be carried out into arid terrain, requiring operational independence of the rover and reflecting two important aspects of a Martian environment: aridity of the air and extensive thermal fluctuation.
„Polar Operation“: The third testing step, representing the main operational mission goal, is the checkout of the rover over a period of 80 days in a polar or polar-analogue region of the Earth. The functional period shall not stretch over the 80 day period in continuity, but contain two operational windows of activity at the beginning and the end of the period. In addition, these windows of activity shall see the testing of the PolAres suit as human component in the same polar environment, too.
PolAres Schedule Update
15. June 2012: Deadline Announcement of Opportunity MARS2013 25.-27. Oct. 2012: 3rd Conference on Terrestial Mars Analogues 01 - 28. February 2013: Morocco Mars Simulation
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
This field mission is supported by the Ibn-Battuta-Center at the University of Marrakesh, Morocco. The Austrian Space Forum now solicitates proposals to be reviewed by a selection panel. The deadline for submissions is 15. June 2012, the announcement of the successful experiments will be released on 15. July 2012.
Detail
The analysis of Mars analogue environments on Earth is of paramount importance for the interpretation of the data from past, present and future orbital and landed missions, as well as mission planning (both robotic and human). Sedimentary environments in particular attract strong interest because they can retain the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental history of the planet and under the right conditions may harbour fossil or present life signatures.
Date: 25. - 27. October 2012
Location: Conference Centre of the Hotel Meridien N'Fis at Marrakech, Morocco Organization: European Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, International Association of Sedimentologits, Ibn Battuta Centre, IRSPS, Universite Cadi Ayyad.
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
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