Here the subsystem was checked prior to assembling into the life support system. The liquid cooling system, based on a thermoelectric heat exchanger in the LSS backpack, was presented successfully. AOUDA team leader Gernot Groemer sums up: "This was a major step forward in implementing AOUDA and we eagerly await the first field tests of the complete system in the marble quarry in Kramsach (Tyrol)."
Currently AOUDA's "central nervous system" is under heavy development. A week ago the main computer went online for the first time while the sensory system will be integrated in the weeks to come.
Space suit "AOUDA" is a so called analogue space suit which means it is not to be used in real space or on Mars. Its intention is to simulate all essential specifications during realistic tests.
The space suit is a prototype which will be tested and improved in near future. A hard upper torso makes the central element of the suit weighing 45 kg in all. Being one of the top models ever used in analogue science it shows a lot of special characteristics:
- a thermoelectric cooling system
- broadband wireless communications
- an experimental gesture and speech controlled human to machine interface
- fully equipped medical telemetry
The suit can be used for several hours in the desert under temperatures up to 50°C as well as in the arctic (-25°C). The exterior layer consists of aluminium coated panox-kevlar which bears excellent astrobiological characteristics. AOUDA simulates the constraints of a real space suit on Mars with the help of an especially developed exoskeleton. So a high level of realism can be achieved to assure optimal conditions for mars research on Earth. Thanks to the enormous commitment of voluntary professionals the research and development costs could kept down on EUR 30.000. This is a "generation.innovation" project by the BMVIT (austrian ministry for transport, innovation and technology) also funded by the tyrolean science fund. Under the scientific administration of the Austrian Space Forum pupils of four tyrolean schools (HBLA Ferrari school, HTL Fulpmes, HTL Anichstrasse, BRG Imst) contribute main facets to the development of the suit.
AOUDA TCS subsystem qualifies
2. June 2009
Prototype analogue spacesuit AOUDA nears completion
After testing the textile components flight readiness test was conducted at HTL Fulpmes on 2. June 2009.
PolAres Schedule Update
15. June 2012: Deadline Announcement of Opportunity MARS2013 25.-27. Oct. 2012: 3rd Conference on Terrestial Mars Analogues 01 - 28. February 2013: Morocco Mars Simulation
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
This field mission is supported by the Ibn-Battuta-Center at the University of Marrakesh, Morocco. The Austrian Space Forum now solicitates proposals to be reviewed by a selection panel. The deadline for submissions is 15. June 2012, the announcement of the successful experiments will be released on 15. July 2012.
Detail
The analysis of Mars analogue environments on Earth is of paramount importance for the interpretation of the data from past, present and future orbital and landed missions, as well as mission planning (both robotic and human). Sedimentary environments in particular attract strong interest because they can retain the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental history of the planet and under the right conditions may harbour fossil or present life signatures.
Date: 25. - 27. October 2012
Location: Conference Centre of the Hotel Meridien N'Fis at Marrakech, Morocco Organization: European Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, International Association of Sedimentologits, Ibn Battuta Centre, IRSPS, Universite Cadi Ayyad.
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
