The Austrian Space Forum and the European Space Agency (ESA) have completed successful testing of their simulated Mars mission in the Rio Tinto semi-desert in Spain. The Austrian Space Forum tested its 'Aouda.X' analogue space suit along with ESA’s 'Eurobot' Mars rover.
The week-long test, which commenced on 18th Monday, provided important technical and scientific data. The mission demonstrated the ability to test the Aouda.X and Eurobot, man-machine-interface in the most realistic simulated conditions achievable on Earth.
The 'Eurobot' prototype, costing 1.5 million Euros, was transported to Spain from the Netherlands. On the 19th of April it passed a test held under field conditions.
The Austrian Mission Control Centre in Innsbruck provided the planning for the mission to the team in Spain. The team was connected to global space agencies via 4G through ‘Long Term Evolution’ (LTE) mobile technology to ‘Net of the Future’ of T-Mobile Austria. The 'Aouda.X' was developed over a period of three years.
The testing demonstrated Austria’s ability to contribute to international human spaceflight activities. The Rio Tinto mission’s scientific leader said that Mars should not be contaminated with material belonging to the Earth, and that the knowledge gained should be applied to habitats on Earth having extreme living conditions.
The Europlanet Research Infrastructure supported the mission under its Transnational Access programme.
Source: http://www.oewf.org/