Austrian Space Forum will send six Analog Astronauts to Israel in October 2020

Today the Austrian Spaoday the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) announced the names of those six analog astronauts who will emulate a human Mars mission in Israel from mid-October to mid-November 2020. “AMADEE-20” is the OeWF’s 13^th Mars analog mission. The selected analog astronauts are highly qualified experts who were trained by the Austrian Space Forum. Commander of this international crew will be aerospace engineer João Lousada from Portugal, an experienced analog astronaut who already participated in two previous Mars analog missions in Austria (2015) and Oman (2018).ce Forum (OeWF) announced the names of those six analog astronauts who will emulate a human Mars mission in Israel from mid-October to mid-November 2020. “AMADEE-20” is the OeWF’s 13^th Mars analog mission. The selected analog astronauts are highly qualified experts who were trained by the Austrian Space Forum. Commander of this international crew will be aerospace engineer Joao Lousada from Portugal, an experienced analog astronaut who already participated in two previous Mars analog missions in Austria (2015) and Oman (2018).
Joao Lousada:

” After serving as deputy commander during our AMADEE-18 mission in Oman I’m very proud and grateful to take the lead this year, in Israel. My crew and I will have the outstanding opportunity to work in a geological setting similar to Mars, testing cutting-edge technology and experiments that we might one day use on the planet’s surface. I’m also happy to have a custom-built habitat developed by our Israeli partners according to the specifications of AMADEE-20. Although performing a human Mars analog mission of this magnitude presents many challenges I’m confident that together with my skilled team and in cooperation with our Israeli partners we will accomplish a successful mission, leading to a better understanding of the challenges of Mars and getting one step closer to Mars.”

Avi Blasberger, ISA’s Director:

” Our cooperation with the Austrian Space Forum and hosting AMADEE-20 in Israel is in line with our policy to support science, to be part of the international efforts for human exploration and to further our outreach and educational program. We are proud to be part of it and will invest all the required efforts to ensure its success.”

List of selected crew members:
For more detailed CVs see below

Joao Lousada, Portugal, ISS Columbus Operation Systems Engineer, certified parachutist and rescue diver
Anika Mehlis, Germany, Microbiology, Engineering for Environmental Technology and Recycling, open water diver
Inigo Munoz-Elorza, Spain, Training Manager at the Galileo Control Centre, certified skydiver, paraglider pilot, and diver
Alon Tenzer, Israel, Mathematics, Computer Science and Aviation Science
Thomas Wijnen, The Netherlands, Mathematics and Physics & Astronomy, scuba diving and parachute license
Robert Wild, Austria, Physics, Wilderness First Responder, Advanced Open Water Diver

The Austrian Space Forum chose these experts from its pool of 13 international analog astronauts. Currently the Austrian Space Forum is the only organization worldwide to conduct this challenging and highly specialized training.

The selected crew will now start their mission specific training for AMADEE-20 and will in October simulate a human Mars mission in the Negev desert in Israel. To do so the OeWF’s analog astronauts will work in isolation, supported by the OeWF’s Mission Support Center in Innsbruck.

Dr. Gernot Grömer, director of the Austrian Space Forum stresses the international character of the upcoming mission:

“ 80 scientists from 12 countries have developed equipment, procedures and experiments that will be tested by our analog astronauts during their 4-week stay in Israel. Participating institutions come from France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the USA and Austria“

AMADEE-20 will be managed by the OeWF and hosted by the Israeli Space Agency in cooperation with D-Mars, taking place from mid-October to mid-November 2020 in the Negev Desert, Israel.

What is Analog Research?

“Analog research is designed to test concepts, working procedures and equipment to find the weak spots so the actual mission can be realized as safely as possible,” says Dr. Gernot Grömer, Administrative Director of the Austrian Space Forum and continues,“ the purpose of simulating a Mars-mission on Earth is to prepare for future crewed missions on the Red Planet. To perform the experiments, the OeWF is one of only five research groups worldwide that has developed a prototype spacesuit which is worn by the OeWF’s analog astronauts during their mission.”

What is an Analog Astronaut?

The Austrian Space Forum’s analog astronauts are carefully selected experts who are trained to execute most of the science field activities while wearing the OeWF´s spacesuit prototype. They also act as a public face and represent the mission as STEM-ambassadors for media and educational activities. Analog astronauts conduct spaceflight-simulations in Mars-like regions on earth as well as test and evaluate workflows and human factors pertinent to human Mars exploration. Their training includes planetology, geology, astrobiology, media training, stress management, emergency care, fitness and above all operating the spacesuit prototype.

The OeWF is one of only five institutions worldwide which has so far developed such a prototype. It emulates the restrictions of an actual planetary surface spacesuit, like weight, resistance or limited sensory input, whilst protecting the analog astronaut from the environment and keeping him/her alive. An elaborate human-machine interface, including a sensor network and specifically developed software assist the analog astronaut during planetary surface operations. The 45kg heavy prototype has been developed to optimize interactions with other (robotic) components, like a rover, and minimize the risk of human contamination.

João Lousada, MSc

Analog Astronaut since 2015

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-15, AMADEE-18, AMADEE-20 EVA hours: > 47 h Career:  João Lousada was born in Portugal in 1989. He completed his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon and wrote his master thesis at the University of Victoria, Canada, on satellite attitude determination and control. He currently is a flight director for the ISS Columbus project and as such has led several ESA missions and projects, in particular the Alpha mission of Thomas Pesquet and the Minerva mission of Samantha Cristoforetti. Before, he worked as engineer on the Meteosat Third Generation project for ESA. He is an active member of the International Astronautical Federation’s Human Spaceflight Committee and Young Professionals Program Committee, as well an alumnus of the Space Generation Advisory Council, where he was elected regional coordinator for Europe. He is a certified private pilot, skydiver and master SCUBA diver. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and has conversational proficiency in German. Photos

Iñigo Muñoz Elorza, MSc

Analog Astronaut since 2015

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-15, AMADEE-18, AMADEE-20 EVA hours: >62 h Career: Iñigo Muñoz Elorza was born in Spain in 1979. He studied economics at the DHBW in Karlsruhe, aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and later he got his master’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics from the Valencian International University. Currently he is the evolution and engineering manager at Spaceopal, dealing with all the segment upgrades to enable the Galileo Service Operator activities. Throughout his career he has worked in aerial and space related projects, e.g. as project manager at HIFSA and operations engineer at E-USOC in Madrid as well as training manager at the Galileo Control Center and was also an astronaut instructor at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne. He is fluent in Spanish, German, English and speaks Italian. He is a certified skydiver, paraglider pilot, and diver. Photos

Dr. Anika Mehlis

Analog Astronaut since 2019

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-20 EVA hours: >18 h Career: Born in 1981 in Germany, Anika Mehlis studied biology with a focus on microbiology at the Free University of Berlin, as well as engineering for environmental technology and recycling at the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau. After finishing her PhD studies recently in Public Health at Bielefeld University, she works as a scientific officer in “infection protection and environmental medicine” for the Academy of Public Health Services Düsseldorf, Germany. During her second university degree, she worked as chemical-technical assistant at an environmental lab and as lecturer for biology at the University of Cooperative Education Plauen. She spent several years as a team lead in a public health department. Mehlis is fluent in German and English and has basic knowledge of French and Spanish. Photos

Alon Tenzer

Analog Astronaut since 2019

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-20 EVA hours: > 8 h Career: Born in 1985 in Israel, Alon Tenzer completed a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, computer science and aviation science at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as well as a master’s degree in neuroscience at the Weizmann-Institute of Science in Israel. He currently works as a senior Al engineer in Singapore, building artificial-intelligence-based solutions for various companies and co-leading the department specializing in Natural Language Processing. Tenzer is a veteran of the Israeli Air Force, where among other operational positions he served as a software developer & team leader. He also worked as a researcher and data-scientist at the Weizmann-Institute of Science. He is a certified Scuba-diver, skydiver and commercial pilot. He is fluent in both Hebrew and English and has a basic proficiency in French and Chinese. Photos

Dr. Thomas Wijnen

Analog Astronaut since 2019

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-20 EVA hours: > 10 h Career: Born in the Netherlands in 1986, Dr. Wijnen completed his bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and Physics & Astronomy at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Followed by a research internship at the Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile, a master’s degree with distinction, and a PhD in Astrophysics, he has been captain in the Royal Netherlands Air Force Reserve and engages in projects on space situational awareness for the Dutch Space Security Center. He works as instrumentation coordinator for NOVA, Netherlands Research School for Astronomy, coordinating the many instrumentation projects in which the Dutch astronomical community is involved. Dr. Wijnen holds a PADI scuba-diving and a parachute license and is fluent in Dutch and English. His language skills include intermediate Spanish as well as basic French and German. Photos

Dr. Robert Wild

Analog Astronaut since 2019

Mars-Simulations: AMADEE-20 EVA hours: > 13 h Career: Born in 1982, from Innsbruck, Robert Wild completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Arizona and his PhD in physics at the University of Colorado. Dr. Wild’s research topics have included matter wave diffraction, the quantum mechanics of ultracold atoms, and laser-based trace gas detection. Currently, he is a senior scientist at the University of Innsbruck with a focus on laboratory studies of interstellar ions. He has published in numerous scientific journals including Nature. He is a trained Wilderness First Responder and Advanced Open Water Diver. Wild fluently speaks English and German and has good command of Spanish. Photos

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