AMADEE-27 Mars Simulation

Evolving the Know-How of Managing Crewed Missions to Mars

AMADEE-27 is the 16th Mars analog simulation of its kind, managed by the Austrian Space Forum: For two weeks, a carefully selected crew of 6 analog astronauts will emulate selected aspects of a human-robotic Mars mission. The crew will be supported by a Mission Support Center in Austria, emulating the “ground segment” of an actual Mars mission, including operations teams, flight planners, remote science support and the infrastructure necessary to coordinate a complex set of experiments in the fields of engineering, geoscience and human factors. 17 peer-review selected experiments will be implemented. As in previous AMADEE-expeditions, a strong international media echo is expected.

The test site is located at the Monsaraz Analog Research Station (MARS) in Portugal. The AMADEE-27 mission aims:

Study equipment behavior involving the simultaneous deployment of instruments and robotic vehicles with humans-in-the-loop, including research-grade spacesuit simulators,
develop platforms for testing life-detection or geoscientific techniques, robotic support tools providing a high situational awareness
catalyze the visibility of planetary exploration,
evolve the know-how of managing crewed missions to Mars by deploying a realistic Mission Support decision making framework.

Timeline

Mar 2026	A-27 Experiments selected, crew selection starts
15Aug2026	Experiments critical design review
Sep/Oct2026	AMADEE-27 signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Monsaraz/Portugal
Feb2027	Dress Rehearsal in Austria
05-18Apr2027	AMADEE-27 Field Mission
Jun 2027 (tbd)	AMADEE-27 Science Workshop

As part of our commitment to safety, collaboration, trust, and integrity, we’re actively working on integrating the International Guidelines and Standards for Space Analogs into our practices.

AMADEE-27 mission patch - a golden Armillary Sphere in the middles. Dark mountains and red terrain. Gear symbol on red terrain, star on grey mountain. Text on patch: AMADEE-27 Mars Analog Mission Monsaraz Portugal.

The AMADEE-27 patch features a golden Armillary Sphere linking Portugal’s maritime history to space navigation. A gear symbolizes robotic engineering, while a compass star represents the analog astronaut as the heart of human exploration.

Humans and Robots. Together for Mars.
#AMADEE27 #simulateMars

Preliminary scientific experiments

Name	Category	Institution	Short description
MARS TEMP	Human Factors / Medical	University of Stuttgart, DE Univ. of Sydney, USA Charité-Univ.medicine, DE	Mars Analog Research on Suited Temperature & Physiology
(SPS) SpacePatch System	Human Factors / Medical	Institute of Aerospace Medicine, DE University of Cologne, DE	Exploration-Relevant Autonomous Health & Performance Monitoring
FaR SiDe	Human Factors / Medicine	OeWF/Aouda spacesuit prototype University of Innsbruck	Simulation-System for Fatigue, Recovery and physical Stress in Demanding Environments.
EyeTracking	Human Factors / Medical	Univ. Hospital Leipzig, DE European Soc. of Aerospace Medicine	Enhancing Acute Focus and Attention During Simulated Exoplanetary Field Operations
BrainHeart Iso- MNM	Human Factors / Medical	Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE Medical University of Graz, AT	Multimodal Neurophysiological Monitoring of Cognitive Workload and Stress During Simulated Mars Operations
NEUROTEK -EVAER	Human Factors / Psychology	University of Cadiz, ESP	EVA Emergency Risk Scenario during simulated EVA emergencies, using real-time monitoring tools.
ICE- LEAD	Human Factors / Psychology	University of Applied Sciences Harz, DE	Leadership in ICE: An Analog Study Comparing Antarctic Overwintering at Neumayer Station III and AMADEE-27
VaMEx- CoOp	Robotics	University of Bremen, DE	Heterogeneous Robotic Swarm for Cooperative Navigation and Human- Assisted Sample Return
CRES	Robotics	ESA Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Lab, ESTEC, NL	Collaborative Robotic Support: Preparation, Exploration and EVA Support
ACUBENS	Robotics	Julius-Maximilians-Univ. Würzburg, DE Techn. Hochschule Würzburg- Schweinfurt, DE	Autonomous Cooperative UWB-Based Exploration System
MARVEL	Robotics	FH OO Forschungs & Entwicklungs GmbH, AT	Mars Analog Robotic Vision and sub- surface exploration with a legged robotic platform.
NEOPUSS GREENS	Habitat & Operations	R&D Engineer Neopouss, FRA	Group-based Responses to Engagement with Edible Nutritional Systems
ARES- PBR	Habitat & Operations	Technical University of Munich, DE	Evaporation Reduction in Flat-Panel Photobioreactors through Integrated Humidity Management for Bioregenerative Life-Support Systems
PAPEE	Habitat & Operations	KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE	Pilot Aquaponics Platform for Exploration Environments
AQHabitat_2.0	Habitat & Operations	Fraunhofer WKI, DE	Test of equipment for air cleaning system and pollutant concentration monitoring in habitats
SIMOC-LIVE	Habitat & Operations	Univ of Arizona, USA	Passive experiment with passive in-door air quality monitoring

Mission architecture

Conceptual architecture of the AMADEE-27 expedition: A 10min time delay reflects the signal travel time between Earth and Mars. The Mission Support Center in Vienna/Austria is the single-line-of-contact between “Earth” and “Mars”. GOST as support team on "Mars" communicates with the Mars habitat in real-time and with the MSC 10 min time delayed. — Figure 1: Conceptual architecture of the AMADEE-27 expedition: A 10min time delay reflects the signal travel time between Earth and Mars. The Mission Support Center in Vienna/Austria is the single-line-of-contact between “Earth” and “Mars”. GOST as support team on “Mars” communicates with the Mars habitat in real-time and with the MSC 10 min time delayed.

Exploration Cascade

AMADEE-20 habitat in Israel. Similiar set-up could be use for AMADEE-24 Mars simulation.
(c) OeWF (Florian Voggender) — *(c) OeWF (Florian Voggender)*

The AMADEE-27 expedition focuses on the interplay of the respective instruments and experiments relevant for human-robotic Mars missions. Based upon the research question of how to identify biomarkers, which in turn is traditionally based upon the characterization of the (paleo-)geoscientific environment, the experiments were selected to reflect a realistic sequence of activities.

This strategy is based upon the “exploration cascade”, an algorithm defining an efficient deployment sequence, providing the framework for the question: “which instrument needs to be active where and when, leading to what kind of data sets, leading to what kind of knowledge, leading to which type of input for the tactical flight planning”.

Planning discussion at the MSC during AMADEE-20. The AMADEE-24 Mars simulation will be directed by a MSC. — *Planning discussion at the MSC during AMADEE-20*

As suggested by Neveu et al. (2018) life-detection measurements must be sensitive, contamination-free regarding the absence of interfering signals, and reproducible; one or more features must be detectable, preserved, reliable, and compatible with life on Earth. Experiments will be scheduled according to a flight plan defining the resources, location and timing as well as considering the processing pipeline between data acquisition in the field, data transfer and integrity checks and the subsequent near-real time interpretation to formulate a hypothesis. This then translates into a scientific input into the tactical flight planning for the field crew.

Further information / links:

AMADEE-27 Partners

AMADEE-27 MARS SIMULATION
IN COOPERATION WITH

SUPPORTED BY

Fortis (official timekeeper for AMADEE-27), Land Tirol (Junior Analog Astronauts), Gebrüder Weiß (logistics partner),