80-80-80. A mission requirements document couldn't be shorter. The PolAres Rover „Phileas“shall:
Function in desert and arctic environment until –80°C (high robustness),
Function 80 days without interruption and be able to cover a distance up to 80 km (long durability & range of exploration)
and be usable in regions up to the 80° latitude (north / south) (high versatility).
Those three requirement profiles demand a sophisticated thermal management, solid components with long endurance and a highly efficient energy system.
The primary mission profile is the transfer, application and utilisation of scientific payloads, both during single robotic missions and in cooperation with analogue astronauts as human component. Due to the exposed operational area, Phileas shall communicate with mission control via satellite link. Using such a gateway Phileas receives transferred data; but it can also serve as relay station / interface towards to analogue astronauts.
The new rover will be developed and constructed in Austria in the course of 2007-2008. Following a synergetic approach, it shall make use of design and operation “lessons learned” from the AustroMars mission rover. Selection of payload instruments shall be done via an „Announcement of Opportunity“, with subsequent payload selection by an expert evaluation board until the end of 2007.
Test and operation phases are three-fold:
„Alpine Test“: The first testing step (focusing on the rover’s functional parameters) shall take place on suitable surface terrain in Austria. The rover shall be commanded from a mobile mission control centre. Subject of the test are all rover functions, component interoperability, rover performance in difficult terrain and others.
„Desert Operation“: The second testing step shall be carried out into arid terrain, requiring operational independence of the rover and reflecting two important aspects of a Martian environment: aridity of the air and extensive thermal fluctuation.
„Polar Operation“: The third testing step, representing the main operational mission goal, is the checkout of the rover over a period of 80 days in a polar or polar-analogue region of the Earth. The functional period shall not stretch over the 80 day period in continuity, but contain two operational windows of activity at the beginning and the end of the period. In addition, these windows of activity shall see the testing of the PolAres suit as human component in the same polar environment, too.
