Today the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) in cooperation with the Oman National Steering Committee started AMADEE-18, OeWF’s 12. Mars simulation to take place in the Dhofar desert in Oman.

(c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)

Under Austrian leadership, the AMADEE-18 field-crew will conduct experiments in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology and life sciences to pave the way for future human Mars missions. During today‘s press conference at the AMADEE-18 Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria the Austrian Space Forum offered media representatives an insight into the Mars simulation and its objectives.

“This mission unites people from 20 nations and 16 institutions from 6 countries. Our six analog astronauts originate from 5 different countries. Thus AMADEE-18 is definitely one of the best examples of successful international cooperation”

said AMADEE-18 Flight Director and OeWF-Board Member Reinhard Tlustos. He also stressed the importance of the OeWF’s partner organizations:

“One of our major partners is definitely the Oman National Steering Committee. We could not have found a more reliable and professional support to our mission. Our Omani partners assisted in finding a suitable test-site, provided the base-station in the Dhofar desert as well as crew-transportation to the test site. We are indeed very grateful.”

Tlustos also elaborated on the industrial partners of AMADEE-18:

„An impressive diversity of high end companies provide us with their know-how and state of the art products proving crucial to the success of a mission of such magnitude.”

“Endeavors such as this Mars analog mission offer companies which are not part of spaceflight industry the unique chance to get in touch with this sector”

added Rüdiger Köster, CTO T-Mobile and continued,

“For T-Mobile it’s an outstanding opportunity to test our services in an extreme environment and use the gained insight to develop and improve our products for the benefit of our customers.”

During the next three weeks the mission-crew will conduct 16 experiments as well as test equipment and materials. Communication between the field crew in Oman, simulating Mars, and the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria, simulating Earth, will be delayed by 10 minutes, mimicking the time lag between the two planets.
For the duration of AMADEE-18 expedition outlets at the Ars Electronica Center in Linz and the Vienna Planetarium will offer more insight into this Mars simulation as it evolves.

Following the simulation the Austrian Space Forum will conduct a conference in Mai 2018 to present preliminary results of the mission.

Details about AMADEE-18 industrial and science-partners can be found below.
For Press Photos and the AMADEE-18 Press Kit click here

#simulateMars #AMADEE-18
www.facebook.com/spaceforum/

AMADEE-18 PARTNERS

PDO SUPPORT FOR AMADEE-18 MISSION
PDO is playing a key role in supporting an international Mars field simulation which will take place in the Company’s concession area.

The Company is offering logistical, health, safety and environment (HSE) and other support to the Amadee-18 project team.
This includes:

• Access of site near Marmul in PDO’s concession area from 31 January to 28 February
• Facility set-up, logistics (air & land transport), catering, telecommunications and Information Management and Technology services. Such support includes:
  1. Construction of the camp including, accommodation units, dining area, offices and meeting rooms
  2. Provision of site services, power, sewerage, potable water
  3. Procurement of furniture, light equipment and disposables
  4. Site services including provision of skips and waste removal, collection of sewage and emergency maintenance response.
  5. Provision of a helipad
• Financial assistance for the project
• Membership of the National Steering Committee led by Sheikh Al Khattab Al Hinai, Chairman of the Oman Astronomical Society, and Deputy Chairman State Council. PDO is represented by External Affairs and Value Creation Director Abdul-Amir Al Ajmi

AMADEE-18 Industrial Partners

T-Mobile
Rüdiger Köster, CTO T-Mobile:

„As a long-standing partner T-Mobile Austria supports the Austrian Space Forum with its LTE/4G technology, which enables data transfer of up to 300 Megabit per Second. This speed is needed for the communication between the base station in Oman and the Mission Support Center of the Austrian Space Forum in Innsbruck, because a big amount of data such as video streaming, bio-medical telemetric data from space suits and performance data from robotic vehicles are being transferred. A fast and precise transmission and a short latency can be vital for a successful or a failed attempt for the Mission to Mars.”

About T-Mobile Austria
T-Mobile Austria is the second largest mobile telecommunications provider in Austria with  4.6 million customers and approx. 1,300 employees. The brands T-Mobile and tele.ring address various target groups – starting from smartphone consumers to sole proprietorships and even large enterprises.
As a part of the Deutsche Telekom group T-Mobile benefits from the innovative capacity and the financial stability of the group, one of the biggest global player in the telecommunications market. In the fiscal year 2016 the group reported a turnover of 73.1 billion Euros. T-Mobile Austria serves amongst other functions as machine to machine communication (M2M) expert for the Deutsche Telekom group. For its business customers T-Mobile offers a wide range of cloud based solutions.
www.t-mobile.at

Lancom
Whether in ice caves, on the summit of a glacier or on the sand dunes of a desert, LANCOM Systems has been supporting the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) in its field research for years. Professional network components (such as WLAN access points and routers) enable smooth communication and stable data transmission. In order to master the extreme climatic conditions on its twelfth Mars simulation in the desert of Oman, the OeWF has yet again decided to use professional, reliable network infrastructure from Germany.
www.lancom-systems.de

DB Schenker
Helmut Schweighofer, CEO of DB Schenker in Austria und Southeasteurope

„We are very proudly supporting the OeWF as their logistics partner in their extraordinary mission. The sensitive and worldwide unique equipment for the Mars simulation was loaded in Innsbruck and shipped to Oman. On site, both sea freight containers will serve as storage, in order to protect the expensive material of high quality from the extreme conditions in the desert. We wish all involved good luck for the execution of the mars simulation – we are looking forward to it and to our cooperation.“

www.dbschenker.com

Mattro
MATTRO from Austria stands for social, ecological and economic sustainability. We have been enthusiastically developing battery-electric vehicles in our engineering office since 2006. This includes our own vehicle- and battery-production as well as the development of new solutions for and with customers. We are not orientated towards existing concepts as can be seenregarding the Ziesel, which is a single-tracked vehicle that overcomes particularly rough terrain. MATTRO is very happy to provide a Ziesel for the Mars simulation in Oman.
Mattro.at

Fortis
FORTIS is one of the oldest Swiss watchmakers. Since its founding in 1912, FORTIS has always pushed the boundaries of this distinguished craft.
After passing endurance tests at a physical limit and in open space, the Russian Federal Space Agency ROSCOSMOS decided to name FORTIS as the official timekeeper for its missions.
Since their orbital baptism of fire aboard the space station MIR in 1994 FORTIS watches belong to the strictly defined equipment of cosmonauts.
Putting forward over 100.000 earth orbits no other watches have spent more time in space.
In honor to the pioneering cooperation with the space authorities their emblem is engraved in the case back of all FORTIS Cosmonautics Collection models like the legendary FORTIS Official Cosmonauts, the first automatic watch in open space.
For having such a rich & proven history in manufacturing space watches the AMADEE-18 team decided to choose FORTIS as official timekeeper for all relevant tests during the mars mission in the desert of Oman.
www.fortis-swiss.com

360fly, Inc.
360fly, Inc., maker of the category-leading, single-lens cameras that captures stitchless 360-degree video, is the live streaming partner on this mission. Viewers will be able to get a unique perspective on the mission live and in 360 degrees. The camera used to live stream the crew is the 360fly® 4K PRO. This camera changes the landscape of professional live streaming with its continued power source and immersive 360-degree viewing experience.
www.360fly.com

Ic! Berlin Brille
Founded in 1996, ic! berlin is a leading, award-winning eyewear label in Berlin whose goal is to discover, develop and market new ideas in eyewear. ic! berlin’s screwless glasses embody the spirit and philosophy of the company: they are naked and pure. They are both wearable and extreme, built to last a lifetime, unbelievably flexible and feather light.
Every single ic! berlin frame is handmade with love in Berlin. What started in a small two-room apartment now takes up a space roughly the size of the field inside Berlin’s Olympic Stadium; design, production, sales, distribution & marketing all happen under the ic! berlin roof. Today, ic! berlin glasses are sold in over 60 countries.
In the Dhofar desert these high end glasses will protect the eyes of the field crew from sun and sand.
www.ic-berlin.de/

Manas.Tech
Manas.Tech designs and develops unconventional software, partnering with innovative organizations to help them push the limits of the status-quo with technology. They developed the mapping and navigation interface for the Head Up Display in the OeWF-spacesuit simulator’s helmet making use of their design experience around resource constrained scenarios, combined with GIS, performant graphic rendering techniques, and software design for embedded platforms.
manas.tech

Skriware
Skriware delivers 3D printers and an educational ecosystem based on 3D printing technology. The company helps users to develop the 21st century STEM skill set through the process of designing, building, and programming 3D printed robots. The core part of Skriware EdTech solution is an intuitive, Plug’n’Play 3D printing device integrated with an online platform with a dedicated educational content – 3D models and e-learning courses. While the product requires no prior experience in 3D printing or robotics, it is still designed to fully meet the expectations of advanced users. During AMADEE-18 a 3D printer will be used that is also in operation on the international space station ISS. By using a 3D printer to produce tools on demand, repairs to broken tools and production of new parts for unplanned needs, the experiment will measure how the use of this technology benefits Martian operations.
skriware.com

Tespack
Tespack is the first company specialized in providing a complete mobile energy experience by creating commercially ready Smart Wear and Energy solutions for the consumer sector. They combine latest technology and connectivity with premium design. Their technology solves SmartWear devices’ biggest problems: battery life, energy generation and soon connectivity.
During AMADEE-18 the first smart solar helmet will be tested. It can power action cameras on the go and increases the battery life of an action camera from 1 hour to 11 hours. Furthermore it can also power smartphones and can be recharged in 3 ways: Solar, USB and Ultra-fast charging 12 mns. It provides an App that can give its user an accurate battery lifetime of all his mobile devices and charging point locations.
www.tespack.com

Traum & Wahnsinn
Thomas Weilguny:

“The Traum & Wahnsinn Media Collective has been engaged in film and visual media for over ten years – in film production and photography but also hosting seminars and workshops. We have been cooperating with the Austrian space industries since 2013, mainly through providing outreach and media services for science projects, like the development of sensor technology for the Exomars programme. The OeWF has been a partner since the Astronaut Conference ASE16, currently we are cooperating for the AMADEE-18 mission.”

Traum-und-wahnsinn.at

University of Applied Sciences for Health Professions Upper Austria
In December 2017 the OeWF (Austrian Space Forum) contacted the University of Applied Sciences for Health Professions Upper Austria, Study Program Dietetics for support in menu planning for mission AMADEE-18 in Oman. The mission is planed from 31st of January to 3rd of March 2018. Participating will be 19 field crew members (FC) from the scientific part of the mission and 26 members of the bridge crew (BC). Some members do have restrictions in their diet or strong dislikes.
The University of Applied Sciences for Health Professions Upper Austria drafted weekly menu plans including recipes and a corresponding food lists. Within the menus recommendations related to energy requirements of the scientific members of the mission as well as special diet, restrictions and strong dislikes have been considered. Furthermore menus and recipes have been created to be prepared in a field kitchen with limited facilities. Moreover recipes planned should not be to challenging because FC members will prepare food themselves, 2 FC members per day will be responsible for catering management within the field.
www.fh-gesundheitsberufe.at

voestalpine
The technology and capital goods group voestalpine, with its comprehensive knowledge in manufacturing metal powder and the production of ready-to-install components, is a global pioneer in Metal Additive Manufacturing. A special tool manufactured using the voestalpine 3D metal printer is on board at the AMADEE-18 mission: the highly sophisticated scoop for taking samples was developed and produced by the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center GmbH in Düsseldorf.
www.voestalpine.com/group/en/

Bind Fix Elastics
Ing. Hermann Payer, Bind Fix:

“We have been dealing with mobile fastening technology for 30 years. The main product is an elastic, easily detachable cable tie (MICRO-FIX).
With the development of our infinitely adjustable clamping rubbers, we have pushed the limits of what is possible in the field of – binding – bundling – fastening – securing small goods to be transported. Now it is an honor and a pleasure for us, to facilitate the work of other teams like the OeWF by shifting their borders with “BIND-FIX”.

www.bind-fix.at

Fair Rescue International
Fair Rescue International has been a complete outfitter of rescue and emergency medical equipment for 20 years. Thousands of rescue- and emergency medical missions form the basis of this competence. One of the strength is the in-house development and production of Emergency Backpacks and Rescue bags.
Fair Rescue International has been a partner of OeWF for many years when it comes to supplying and equipping rescue and medical equipment.
Fairrescue.at

Science Partners

ÜBER DAS ÖSTERREICHISCHE WELTRAUM FORUM 
Das Österreichische Weltraum Forum (ÖWF) ist ein österreichisches Netzwerk für RaumfahrtspezialistInnen und Weltrauminteressierte in Zusammenarbeit mit nationalen und internationalen Forschungseinrichtungen, Industrie und Politik. Die Organisation ist Teil aktueller Weltraumforschung und dient als Kommunikations-und Vernetzungsplattform zwischen dem Weltraumsektor, Industrie, universitärer Lehre und Öffentlichkeit. Das ÖWF hat seit 2003 11 internationale Expeditionen in mehreren Mars-ähnlichen Regionen durchgeführt, u.a. in der Nord-Sahara in Marokko, USA/Utah und Südspanien sowie hochgelegene Missionen auf Gletschern und Simulationen in Eis- und Tropfsteinhöhlen.www.oewf.org 

Medienkontakt: 
Mag. Monika Fischer
Media Officer
Austrian Space Forum
Tel: +43 699 1213 4610

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