Greetings from the MARS 2013 Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, here with the daily news update, bringing you the news about yesterday’s MARS2013 events.

With only a few mission days left of MARS2013, the field crew spent the day working on finishing up the last experiments, including DELTA, MEDIAN, and the Magma Rover.

Group picture of some of the MARS2013 experiments: From left: PULI Rover, MEDIAN, Peniculus (front)/MAGMA White (Rear), Hunveyor, and deployable shelter. (c) OeWF (Katja Zanella-Kux)

Meanwhile, the Mission Support Center had a busy morning with a MARS2013 teleconference between the field team doctor Pavan Gorur, the MSC, and a workshop of students from the Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology and Management in Lucknow, India. The students had a lot of interesting questions, and the telecon was an important outreach for MARS2013.

Later in the day, the MSC crew took a bit of time off to watch the launch of the Indian rocket PSLV-C20. The rocket carried the first two Austrian-built satellites BRITE-AUSTRIA and UniBRITE, which will form part of the BRITE constellation space telescope.

About the experiments

MEDIAN uses a set of nanolanders to detect and measure local sources of methane. DELTA measures the impact of wearing a spacesuit on an astronaut’s performance. Magma White is a remotely-controllable rover, serving as platform for the LIFE laser, which can detect organic materials. The Puli Rover is an autonomous rover capable of traversing difficult terrain and slopes up to 45 degrees. The deployable shelter is designed to be transported in a backpack-sized case and to protect astronauts caught away from base in an emergency.