On the last day of 2013 the Austrian Space Forum takes a look back to review the past working year.  2013 was an exciting, intense year with two major missions (MARS2013 simulation in the Nothern Sahara in Morocco and the World Space Week 2013),  lots of science and many activities to inspire people for space. The following pictures provide a colorful and arbitrary reflection on our year 2013 in space.

1 Mission Support Center Innsbruck: Flight Director Alexander Soucek (middle) in discussion with team members of remote science and flight planning. The MARS2013 simulation was supported by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, where more than 50 volunteers helped to make the Mars analog simulation a success.

2 MARS2013! In February 2013 the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) simulated a one month human Mars mission in the Northern Sahara in Morocco. Special thanks again to the Morrocan “Gendamerie Royale” who supported our 10-headed team on-site. Photo: OeWF (Katja Zanella-Kux)

3 A historic Mars analog mission? The pictures was taken with a self-constructed pinhole camera during MARS2013 simulation and shows Aouda.S in front of a rare tree. (Photo: Stefan Hauth)

4 “Polarstern” Prize 2013: Since five years the Austrian Space Forum recognizes individuals, who inspire for space. 2013 we found with Prof. Dr. Mazlan Othman honorable awardee: Dr. Othman is a role-model for people  sharing their passion for space and astronomy above and beyond duty.

5 Mars Science Workshop: Three days with a focus on the science of MARS 2013. First results were presented, potential papers discussed and the next steps defined. A special edition of the Astrobiology Magazine on MARS2013 will be published 2014. Poto: ÖWF (Rafael Stanuch)

6 A space day for kids from Tschernobyl: Alexander Soucek and Gerhard Grömer conduct an unforgetable space day for a group of children from the Ukraine, who were on recreational vacation in Austria.

7 10 years primary school Solar City (Linz): On this occassion, two days of space activities were celebrated. With the children spacesuits, Mars rover and experts from the Austrian Space Forum not only the students got excited about spaceflight.

8 “Zieleworkshop”2013:  The idyllic city Berndorf near Salzburg hosted this years “Zieleworkshop” (strategy workshop) of the Austrian Space Forum. Besides technical and administrative workshops, esprit de corps was at the center of the activities. E.g., Norbert Frischauf and Alexander Soucek prepared a model rocket launch. Photo: OeWF (Stefan Hauth)

9 All system are “Go”: During the World Space Week 2013 a Mission Control Center was set-up  in Innsbruck. For the kickoff event of the World Space Week 20 Partners were giving their “Go” for the mission. Guests of honor: Austria’s only cosmonaut Franz Viehböck (at the back left sitting) and World Space Week Executive Director Remco Timmermans (at the back right sitting). Photo: OeWF (Claudia Stix)

10 Mission Control Center at night: Silence after the storm. During the opening hours of the Mission Control Center, telecons with schools, associations and science centers were conducted on an hourly basis. More than 80 nations were involved at the WSW, on Twitter only we reached more than 17 million people.

11 Dangerzone: Since the beginning of December the special exhibition “Sounds of Space” -curated by the Austrian Space Forum- is open at the Audioversum Science Center in Innsbruck. Amongst other attractions,  a rocket launch can be experienced in the “Dangerzone”. The Austrian Space Forum was advisor for the Audioversum and was responsible for the content and technical productions for the exhibition. Photo: Audioversum

12 MARS2013 Camp “Wehyprecht” at night: Timelapse video of the base camp of the one-month Mars analog simulation MARS2013 in the Northern Sahara in Morocco. Video: OeWF (Stefan Hauth)

This article is available in: German