Vienna is the central hub!

On October 13, 2025 the largest Moon/Mars analog mission to date launched with 17 institutions on five continents: the “World’s Biggest Analog.” From October 13 to 26, 2025, 16 Mars/Moon habitats, under the leadership of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), will emulate human exploration of the Moon and Mars. So-called analog astronauts will live in habitats and conduct up to ten different experiments. Running the Mission Coordination Center (MICO-VIE), the OeWF will be the heart of the “World’s Biggest Analog” during these two weeks: It is responsible for worldwide mission planning and will support the habitats around the world with scientific expertise and provide detailed meteorological data.

Official media material kit

Dr. Gernot Grömer, Director of the Austrian Space Forum: “Taking into account current technological capabilities, the best option for a trip to Mars is: 200 days to Mars, approximately a year’s stay, and 200 days back. Many questions regarding this long journey and long term human presence on the Red Planet remain unanswered—hence our research. From today’s perspective, major space agencies expect that humans will set foot on Mars in the 2040s.”

Dr. Gernot Grömer: „For the first time, 200 researchers in Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe are working together simultaneously united by their mutual goal to prepare for long term human presence on the Moon and Mars. To this end, they will recreate the experience of being on the Moon or Mars as realistically as possible. The scientists from the participating international universities will have the rare opportunity to see their experiments conducted by up to 16 groups simultaneously.“

Dr. Anika Mehlis is an OeWF analog astronaut. As Director of Operations for World’s Biggest Analog, she heads the Mission Coordination Center in Vienna: “World’s Biggest Analog is unique: It is the world’s largest project of its kind. We want to establish internationally uniform standards for analog research to make results comparable and optimize scientific output. World’s Biggest Analog will better connect existing habitats and give younger institutions access to a wealth of experience. A new analog community is emerging, making it easier for new countries to become part of space research.”

Participating countries

5 continents: America, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe

17 Institutions:

• 16 Habitats in: Armenia, Australia, Brazil, France, India, Jordan (2), Kenya, The Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Czechia, USA (3)
• Mission Coordination in Austria

10 experiments from the following areas:

1. Psychology
Decision-making in stressful situations
Relaxation in stressful situations through crafting

2. Environmental engineering
Measurement of indoor climate, air quality, etc.

3. Sociology/Law:
Development of a regulatory framework for the coexistence of people of different cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds – a prerequisite for the future cooperation on Mars

4. Biology:
Survivability of microorganisms under selected Martian conditions

5. Biology/Psychology:
How do people in an isolated, confined space deal with a semi-automatic mini-greenhouse? What psychological effects does this have? How well does the mini-greenhouse perform?

The experiments will be conducted in at least five habitats, depending on their level of complexity. Data for the psychological experiments will be collected across all habitats, providing a valuable dataset with input from people of different genders, ages, cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities.

What is Analog Research?

Dr. Anika Mehlis explains: “Anything intended to ensure the survival of astronauts and a successful research mission millions of kilometers away from Earth must first be tested in a safe environment. That’s analog research. Analog research simulates the work of astronauts in Mars-like or lunar-like environments on Earth. We test equipment and workflows and look for weak spots to ensure everything runs smoothly during actual deployment. This method makes it easier to understand the advantages, but also the limitations, of future astronaut missions to alien planets.”

ABOUT THE AUSTRIAN SPACE FORUM
The Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) is a private space research institution. As ESA’s first Ground Based Facility in Austria, we operate a vertical treadmill to simulate different gravity-levels. The OeWF also serves as a network for spaceflight specialists, business/industry and people interested in space. We conduct Mars Analog Missions on a regular bases, involving scientists and institutions from all over the world. The OeWF is playing a leading role in two international Cube-Sat missions that detected space debris in Near Earth Orbit from 2022 to 2024. We cooperate with international research institutions and companies and are in constant dialog with the media and decision makers. With 250 members from 20+ nations, the Austrian Space Forum focuses on scientific excellence, starts, shapes and networks careers and has been inspiring people all over the world since 1998.

During World’s Biggest Analog the Austrian Space Forum will be at the center of events serving as the Mission Coordination Center in Vienna with specialized teams supporting WBA’s participating institutions.

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