During the AMADEE24 mission in Armenia, the GEOS experiment focuses on geologic survey activities at the simulated Martian landing site. GEOS applies classic geological field survey methods to a simulated mission to Mars, drawing on the experience of the lunar field survey built by Apollo missions.

The elements of GEOS are the mapping, the sampling, and the compositional measurements. The mapping phase involves developing mission-specific cartography from orbital remote sensing to large-scale mapping produced during and after the mission (Ozdemir et al., 2020). The core element of GEOS is the sampling, providing the ground truth of the remote sensing observation. AMADEE24 Rovers and Analog astronauts will do rock and terrain sampling along transects on base maps supplied by RSS (Remote Science Support) and Flight Planning (FP) for the Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs). Part of the samples will return from the simulated Martian habitat and made available for more advanced laboratory analyses.

In-habitat compositional measurements offer a first estimate of the mineralogy and geochemistry of the samples. Specifically, AMADEE24 carried a RAMAN spectrometer in the field. Here, we will present the results of AMADEE24/GEOS and ongoing activities for the technical and scientific exploitation of the experiment.

Geologic Mapping in the AMADEE24 Analog Mission: the GEOS Experiment and Potential for Future Mission

The AMADEE24 crewed mission simulated in Armenia included the GEOS experiment, which consisted of geologic studies at the analog Martian site. Geologic mapping is one of three elements of the GEOS experiment, besides in-field sampling during EVAs and compositional analysis of the samples in the habitat (see Schindler et al., this workshop).

Digital mapping methods have been part of the mission workflow since the first analog missions organized by the Austrian Space Forum (e.g. Losiak et al., 2013). With AMADEE24/GEOS, we started introducing classical geological mapping methods and making them functional for the mission. Geologic mapping is an interpretive scientific process that produces various map products for environmental and resource exploitation. Through cartographic symbolization, a geologic map identifies volumes of rocks and terrains interpreted to be emplaced by the same process. The spatial relationship of these map units also indicates the temporal sequence of the emplacement (or removal) of materials, literally describing the geologic evolution of the area.

Geologic mapping has driven human space exploration since the Apollo era: astronauts on the surface of the Moon cross-checked the geologic interpretation made from remote sensing data, systematically improving our knowledge of the Moon. After 50 years, planetary geologic mapping is still critical in space exploration (Luna et al., 2024). With the GEOS experiment on AMADEE24, we are following the heritage of planetary geologic map-making into the last generation of analog missions, integrating it into the mission-specific activities: in-field with EVAs and remotely at mission control (e.g. Ozdemir and Grömer 2021; Frigeri et al., 2024).

Source: Alessandro Frigeri¹, Selina Schindler², Seda Özdemir-Fritz³, Francesca Willcocks³, Gernot Grömer³, “The GEOS Experiment Onboard Amadee24 Crewed Simulated Mission to Mars”, “Geologic Mapping in the AMADEE24 Analog Mission: the GEOS Experiment and Potential for Future Mission”, AMADEE-24 Science Workshop Booklet 2024

¹ Italian Natonial Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS), Rome, Italy
² Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
³ Austrian Space Forum, Innsbruck, Austria