Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Affiliation: Institute of Management Studies, Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom

During his work with space professionals, premier athletes and Olympians principal investigator Karoly Schlosser, Ph.D., recognized different means by which high-performing individuals and teams are able to strive in challenging contexts. Knowing how to handle feelings and emotions and how to understand one’s own mind will have an impact on productivity, teamwork and resilience among other things. In order to improve the crew’s health during the AMADEE-20 mission he will train the six analog astronauts plus additional members of the OeWF’s Mission Support Center using the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) forms.
Schlosser explains: “By teaching people to understand the functions of their own involuntary thoughts, emotions and their reactions to them. we can show individuals the common ways how the human mind reacts in response to certain events. Learning that we can all react similarly at some point, we can foster awareness and cultivate a sense of compassion to each other, presence when we need it most, acceptance of difficulties, and commitment to the values we share -by increasing psychological flexibility people can choose to take actions deliberately towards what matters for them, while responding to challenges adaptively.”

ACT and how the project works
During the crew training, Karoly Schlosser, Ph.D., will train the OeWF’s six analog astronauts and key members of the Mission Support Center using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness techniques based in contextual behavioral science. The training will take place before the mission, so that the crew will already be well-skilled in using these abilities during the mission. To quantify the efficacy of the training, the data collected during the project will be analyzed using advanced research methods. The assessment might lead to new findings that may benefit professionals in the space sector or in other performance domains.
Over 20 years of research shows the efficacy of this intervention in the general population with significant benefits in the field of mental health, as well as in military, sport, education, business or other performance contexts. As Schlosser says: “Finding ways how we can promote valuable skills that the crew can use autonomously to maintain their mental and behavioral health, team cohesion, and productivity will be absolutely crucial in future planetary missions. Space agencies and private companies in the sector, or in fact any organization can benefit from the training.”

Affiliation: University of Houston, Texas, US and University of Venice, Italy in collaboration with six companies from Italy and the US

An autonomously flying drone helps mapping unknown terrain and assists rescuing lost astronauts
Currently, a research group that functions as a network between students and companies is working on a drone which will participate in the upcoming Mars analog mission. It will be the 4th flying version, whose technology and design have been further developed and upgraded due to the team’s extensive experience in this field. The current version has been specifically designed to facilitate analog astronauts in handling it whilst wearing a space suit. The drone will be used to create a map of a specific area and to assist during a staged rescue mission.

Advantages of a drone
It is the ideal device when it comes to cover a large area with high-resolution pictures in a short amount of time. Orbiters are also used to produce quick and efficient scans of a planet’s surface but circulate from an altitude that limits the resolution of the pictures taken. Rovers on the other hand can provide high-resolution picture but are very slow which means they will not cover a large area in a short time. Therefore, a drone is a good compromise.

Technical details
It works autonomously, weighs about 2.3kg and has a wingspan of around 2m. It is equipped with solar panels attached to the wing’s surface. In combination with a battery, it can fly up to 12 hours continuously.

The drone will take off and land like a helicopter using propellers, which means no space-taking runway is necessary. During flight and in order to save energy, the drone will turn its propellers when switching from VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) mode to plane mode. It will then transform into a plane, which can be either a glider or a propeller aircraft.

How the experiment works
During the mission, the drone will be sent out to take high-resolution pictures of a pre-defined area. With those pictures, a map can be created. Therefore, it is not necessary to send out analog astronauts into unknown terrain which will in turn decrease possible risks.
As part of the simulated Mars mission the analog astronauts will stage that they have got lost in the field. While the recovery team will be putting on their spacesuits, the drone will be sent out to look for the lost team and determine their exact position. Once the “lost” analog astronauts are found, the positioning data will be relayed to the recovery team.

Outlook
Results from the AMADEE-20 mission will help to further improve this technology. For future stages of the project the team envisions to use material like carbon fiber or certain kinds of plastic that can be reproduced easily in a habitat on Mars using a 3D printer. In case a component of the drone breaks or needs to be changed, astronauts on the Red Planet can simply print it. In addition to that, the team also wants astronauts to be able to adapt the drone design. For example, the wingspan: if the astronauts wanted to cover a larger area, they would have to print longer wings. If the focus lay on a small area only, a wingspan of 2m would not be necessary, hence astronauts could shorten the length on their own.
Another development the AEROSCAN-team is striving for are inflatable wings. This way it will on the one hand be ensured that nothing gets damaged during transportation of the drone. On the other hand, the drone would not take up too much of storage space. With low-cost recoverable parts and the ability to function as an aircraft and helicopter, the drone will be less expensive and more efficient than conventional drones.
Website: domeproject.space

Autonomous Mars-Analog Zone Exploration
Affiliation: Institute of Smart System Technologies, University of Klagenfurt, Austria in cooperation with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Navigating with the eyes of a camera: How can helicopters navigate on Mars?
Machines usually use navigation systems such as GPS to locate themselves in outdoor areas. However, other planets do not have such a system yet. Thus, different methods need to be found to use helicopters for the exploration of another planet. In Austria, a team at the University of Klagenfurt is researching the question, “How can a robot navigate and localize itself without GPS”. The project AMAZE aims to answer this question.
The core of the AMAZE project within the Analog Mars mission AMADEE-20, which is led by the Austrian space agency (OEWF), is the camera-based navigation. For this, a helicopter is equipped with a camera that serves the same purpose as the human eye.
The camera is used to visually detect the environment, sense obstacles, and allow safe navigation in the surrounding area. The “brain” of the camera will record impressive and informative imagery of the Mars surface, which will help us, humans, to understand the red planet just a bit better.

How the experiment works
Co-Investigator of AMAZE, Christian Brommer explains how it works: “The goal is to record information of the surface fast and efficiently to accurately determine changes in the position of the helicopter. Using a helicopter allows us to vary the distance between the camera and the ground, which affects the area, that is covered by a single pixel. This enables us to sense the environment and record images with the quality needed for a specific situation. As an example, we use small distances for the recording of scientific data because it focuses the resolution of the camera to a small area. If we want to travel far distances, high altitude flights are better to gain a more general oversight. Using vision-based navigation allows the helicopter to explore various areas and find its way home or detect the position of astronauts, which might work on the surface. The resolution of these images will be better than the satellite images recorded by the Mars orbiters, which has already helped to understand the planet better.”

About the helicopter
A team of twelve people under the direction of Dr. Stephan Weiss at the University of Klagenfurt is working on finalizing the navigation component of the helicopter. The team already participated in the previous Mars analog mission in 2018 lead by the OEWF. The insights of 2018 helped the team to understand the challenges of camera-based navigation on Mars-like surfaces. The recorded data was used to further improve their algorithms, that are used to navigate the helicopter. A completely new helicopter-platform, an extended sensor suite, and improved algorithms are used to ensure a robust and autonomous mission in October 2021.

Collaboration with the JPL
The team is also happy to welcome two researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where Dr. Weiss and Mr. Brommer worked previously. The data that is recorded during the AMADEE-20 mission will be shared with JPL for further development of their navigation components toward future Mars missions. First results from a helicopter on Mars are expected in 2021 after NASA’s helicopter scout “Ingenuity”, arrives on the Red planet.

EXO-Mars Science Corporative Training
Affiliation: Institute for Software Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria

Detailed maps for extravehicular activities and individual tasks – what a rover can do!
Students and researchers at the Technical University of Graz in Austria are accepting the challenge to develop a rover which, in combination with flying robots, will prepare the analog astronauts’ field missions. This grouping will further improve the efficiency and safety of the analog astronauts’ activities. Consequently, the EXOSCOT-team deems the rover’s seamless integration into the mission’s exploration cascade essential.

The Rover-Hardware
At the moment the rover, which will serve as a platform for several different instruments, is still in its construction phase. It represents a further development of the robot used during the AMADEE-18 mission. The platform will be bigger, more flexible and faster, reaching top speeds of up to 60km/h. Navigation will be primarily based on cameras, as is common in space travel.

EXOSCOT as part of the exploration cascade
The exploration cascade determines the order in which the AMADEE-20 mission experiments are to be carried out, so that tasks can be executed efficiently and scientifically meaningful. The rover uses previously collected data from the two flying systems AEROSCAN and AMAZE to produce more detailed maps of an area. These maps in turn form the basis for further experiments.
The rover can be used in a variety of ways and ensures that scientists from different fields of expertise receive the data that is important to them: “You can imagine it roughly like this,” explains the head of the experiment Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gerald Steinbauer, “The rover records certain data using the instruments it is carrying at the time. This data could be several photos of a specific environment that can then be used to create different maps of the surroundings. Once this is done, the rover can be given various subtasks to complete. It could take a picture of a stone at a certain time of day, at a certain angle, or take further measurements.” This way, upcoming field missions can be better planned and most of the uncertainties when entering an unknown terrain can be avoided.

Affiliaton: Austrian Space Forum, Innsbruck, Austria

Learning more about the area through geological processes
The vast opportunity to learn more about the history of an area is through identifying geological processes. This is already being done here on Earth and has led to a detailed understanding of Earth’s history. If we want to extend our knowledge about another planetary body, say Mars for example, it is necessary to determine whether the same geological methods can be applied there as well. Six geologists from the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) will dedicate themselves to this question during the AMADEE-20 mission.

Their project GEOS aims to achieve two objectives: the identification of geological processes of the area in order to enlighten its geological history and the creation of an analog-astronaut geo-training model for future missions.
GEOS can be divided into four parts: Geomapping, Geosampling, Micrometeorites and Geocompare.

Geomapping takes place before the mission starts and pre-defines the geological and topographical features of the working area. The analog-astronauts will use this as a guide when they will collect rocks and sand samples during the mission. This process is called Geosampling. For this purpose, the analog-astronauts will use classic geology field working tools such as geo-hammers, loupes, magnifier cameras, GPS, geo-compasses. The collected samples will then be analyzed by the GEOS-team. Also, the analog-astronauts will separate metal particles from collected sand samples by using big magnets at the habitat, and seal these metal particles in plastic bags. Those potential “Micrometeorite” particles will then be analyzed by GEOS’ principal investigator Dr. Seda Özdemir. Lastly, Geocompare is based on comparing spatial information acquisition strategies between the analog astronauts and geologist by using thematical/geological maps and the natural environment. GEOS will be the bases for developing training skills as well as training programs for both analog and space astronauts.

However, those tasks also entail certain difficulties. Because of the heavy space suit the analog-astronauts need to wear during field work, their freedom of movement will be restricted. Collecting and sealing samples will therefore require considerable physical strength.
Since the analog-astronauts have only been trained in some aspects of geology, this is the best way to create a geo-training model. Based on the analog-astronauts’ performance in the field, the GEOS-team will develop more efficient and effective tools for geological trainings.
These training models will play a key role in future (analog) missions.

Human-Machine Interface Research for Space Suit Head-up Displays
Affiliation: Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), Innsbruck, Austria

Perceiving risks differently by making trend data visible for astronauts in their helmets

The main focus of this project is to find out whether seeing trend data in the space suit helps analog astronauts to improve their assessment and management of risk. The data in question will be shown in the head-up display (HUD), which is installed in the Space Suit’s helmet. For years the OeWF itself has developed the Aouda Space Suit Simulator and currently uses it during its Mars analog missions.
While previous research on this topic focused on fighter and commercial pilots and how information can be displayed in their cockpits, it is also necessary for astronauts to get relevant data, like temperatures and atmospheric composition within the suit or remaining battery life during an EVA (extra-vehicular activity), particularly in a scenario where mission control is not able to support in real-time, such as is the case during a Mars mission.
The above mentioned Aouda Space Suit Simulator including the HUD was improved over many years. The HUD is able to display sensor data, procedures, maps and videos. For the upcoming mission, the OeWF aims to find out whether or not the analog astronauts, who are wearing the suit during an EVA, will perceive risk differently if they can see the current data as part of trend data rather than a single point in time. The results of this experiment can be useful when it comes to dealing with risk during a space mission. This again will then contribute to even safer and more efficient operations.

Experiment Setup

One can imagine the scenario during the AMADEE-20 mission as follows: An analog astronaut will be shown CO2 and temperature measurements displayed as trend data in the HUD whilst performing an EVA. During another EVA, analog astronauts will have only the current measurements displayed in the HUD. Afterwards, they will fill out a questionnaire focusing on the perceived risk and the situational awareness. Will there be a difference in the analog astronauts’ perception of risk?
“The experiment must not have an active part in the EVAs but rather run quietly and discretely in the background”, explains principal investigator Joao Lousada, MSc, “Therefore, the analog astronauts will be trained to simply work as they normally would, independent of what data type is displayed. Otherwise the way they operate, make decisions and manage risks would be influenced.”
The results of the HUMAIN experiment could contribute not only to future Mars missions but also to displays in aviation or other fields where high amounts of information have to be processed quickly and time-critical decision-making is required.

Affiliation: Business Psychology and Human Resource Management, Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), University of Bremen, Germany

About High Responsibility Teams
It is well known that stress can often have a negative impact on team performance. But there are also attitudes, such as collective orientation, that positively influence cohesion and thus team performance. This is especially the case in a so-called “High Responsibility Team” (HRT). Members of such teams work highly interdependently. They are exposed to unpredictable working conditions and demanding work contexts more often than average. Therefore, crews consisting of astronauts also form a High Responsibility Team (HRT). Technical errors made by members of HRTs can have serious consequences and have a major impact on team performance if they are not immediately identified and corrected within the team. Since team processes and their development and flow during a team effort in HRTs have not yet been studied over a longer period of time and in isolation, the INTERTEAM experiment was selected for the Mars Analog Mission of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF). This is supervised by two researchers from the University of Bremen, Germany, who are studying HRTs and complex situations. Different teams have to solve the same team tasks.

How the experiment worksPart 1: Processes within consistent teams
Three teams of 6 people each must separately complete so-called “Team Performance Tasks” in 20 minutes, which require highly interdependent work. Questionnaires have to be filled in before, in between and afterwards, which also take a total of 20 minutes. A run thus takes a total of 40 minutes.

Runs
Several run-throughs are planned in the different mission phases to find out the differences between the teams: During the first week of the mission, the acclimation phase, there is one run-through. During the mission, the isolation phase, this part is done a total of five times. Finally, there is one last run after the mission.

The teams
One team consists of the 6 analog astronauts. Another team consists of 6 representatives of the Mission Support Center1) (MSC), which is located in Innsbruck. The third team consists of 6 representatives of the On-Site-Support2) (OSS) in Israel. These teams have no contact to each other.
Project manager Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann is curious to see whether differences can already be identified in the first part “This part is interesting in the sense that the team consisting of the analog astronauts remains the same throughout the entire mission. In contrast, the other two teams are composed of changing team members, since both the MSC and the OSS work in shifts. Thus, the results from a fixed team in isolation-the analog astronauts-can be compared to the results from teams with rotating members-the MSC and OSS.”

Part 2: Processes within conjoint teams
The second part is similar to part 1. Each round, consisting of “Team performance tasks” and questionnaires, also takes 40 minutes. However, there are now only three rounds. In each run, two analog astronauts, two members of the Mission Support Center (MSC) and two members of the On-Site Support (OSS) form a team. So again, these conjoint teams consist of 6 people each.

Differences
This time the “Team Performance Tasks” for these three teams are adapted to the fact that they are spatially separated from each other. This is because the analog astronauts and On-Site Support are located in Israel, while the Mission Support Center is located in Innsbruck. A special challenge for the conjoint teams will certainly be the 10-minute time delay in the communication between analog astronauts, OSS and MSC. This simulates the current delay between Mars and Earth.
However, due to the time delay, team members can continue working on their regular tasks in the meantime and carry on working on the team task after receiving feedback from another team member. Thus, the process best reflects the reality of how these individual teams work together as an overall team.

Expected results
When asked which results are to be expected, co-leader Dr.-Ing. Christiane Heinicke responded, “Because this study focuses on interactions in both the unified teams and the mixed teams, we expect the consistent teams to adjust their team processes more effectively over time.” Leader of the experiment Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann explains how important this experiment is for future crewed missions: “Gaining knowledge of the relationships between team processes and other factors will lead to making the work of the crew and High Responsibility Teams (HRT) in general safer and more effective. Based on this knowledge, training can be developed in the future to effectively support teams in their teamwork and thus achieve higher team performance.”

Affiliaton: Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), University of Bremen, Germany

MARSLOCK, a combination of the words “Mars” and “Airlock”, is an experiment of the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. It will be deployed on the Mars Analog mission of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) in Israel in October 2021 to investigate the usability of a Mars analog habitat’s airlock.

Airlocks as an important component of a habitat
On a crewed mission to Mars, airlocks are one of the most important components of a habitat: they allow the crew to enter and exit the habitat to explore the environment. Such airlocks are pressurized and used to decontaminate spacesuits worn during extravehicular activities (EVA) when entering the habitat.
Researchers at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) are currently working on a prototype Mars base and studying the functionality of the airlock during the Mars Analog mission AMADEE-20:

“At AMADEE-20, we will observe the preparations of EVAs to gain insights that will help us create a concept for future airlocks. After all, good airlocks are functional from both a technological and a user’s perspective”, explains project leader Dr. Christiane Heinicke.

How the experiment works
In the MARSLOCK experiment, cameras and questionnaires are used to study the airlock in more detail. The dust and sand brought into the airlock are investigated as well.

The Mars simulation AMADEE-20 is particularly interesting for the researchers because of its high fidelity when it comes to the planning of EVAs, as well as the donning of the space suit simulator.

Dr. Johannes Schöning, co-leader of the experiment, is confident about the future use of airlocks: “We expect to gain valuable information about usability from the airlock of the Mars analog mission AMADEE-20 and to draw conclusions for the design of future airlocks for extraterrestrial environments.”

More Effective Remote Operation of Planetary ground robots (using multimodal interfaces)
Affiliation: Researchers from the Institute for Systems and Robotics of Instituto Superior Técnico, in collaboration with the Interactive Technologies Institute (members of LARSyS) with contributions from ISCTE-IUL, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Teleoperate a robot by “feeling” its physical state!

A team from the Institute for Systems and Robotics of the University of Lisbon, consisting of two faculty members and two PhD students, created the experiment MEROP whose name is an acronym for the project title. It is the team’s goal to evaluate the benefits of using haptic devices together with remote-controlled robots, in order to enhance the human operator’s notion of what is happening with the robot.
With broad experience of the use of robotic technologies in urban search and rescue scenarios, the team believes that those and planetary exploration scenarios have a few things in common. Both of them use teleoperation of robots to explore a terrain. But this is challenging, since the operator has limited perception of the robot’s situation, like its orientation and whether the wheels have lost traction. In order to address this issue, the experts developed a haptic interface that conveys the condition of the robot to the operator by using devices imitating its orientation and the traction state of the wheels. The operator, who is not sharing the same physical space with the robot, will then feel it in his/her hands by wearing a vibrating glove on one hand and holding a rotating device in the other hand. During the mission, the robot will firstly inspect the base and then scout the path to a hotspot, before an analog astronaut will be sent out there.

Expectations

Expectations are high: the team wants to be able to find a statistically significant benefit of using this device, over a set of relevant metrics. For instance, to show that an astronaut is able to perform a given task faster and safer when using this haptic interface.
Regarding haptic interfaces, some research has been done for the use of teleoperation of planetary rovers. It is, however, still mostly limited to force feedback, as is known from joysticks in different games. Hereby, the joystick would vibrate if something specific happened in the game. But MEROP uses two devices: One to make the inclination of the robot tangible and one that vibrates as soon as the robot gets stuck. Combined sources of sensory information tend to facilitate perception and goal-directed behavior in the physical world. Therefore, the team from Lisbon is looking forward to advance the state of the art by exploring new feedback modalities in the context of planetary exploration.

Website: merop.isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Affiliation: Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany – Research Unit Comparative Microbiome Analysis

Observing alterations of human microbiomes

The human microbiome describes all microbiota associated to our body and is a key driver for our health, as it provides important life supporting functions. Thus, it is obvious that an intestinal imbalance (dysbiosis) of our microbiome contributes to the development of various infectious and inflammatory diseases. However, so far it has not been sufficiently reported how long-term missions of astronauts induce changes of our microbiome. To get a deeper understanding of this topic a team from Germany will conduct the so called “MICROBIOME”- experiment during a Mars-analog mission. They will focus on bacteria colonizing the skin of the analog-astronauts and their gastrointestinal tract.
“Being involved in microbiome studies related to space travel is nothing new for the team but the AMADEE-20 mission is a chance to follow these lines and investigate further factors potentially impacting the microbiome”, explains Dr. Bärbel Fösel, principal investigator of this project, “Various studies report an impact of microgravity also on microbes. Moreover, culture-dependent studies have indicated alterations in astronauts’ gastrointestinal tract microbiota. However, more comprehensive data on the interplay of humans, their microbiome and various exposures typically encountered during spaceflight are scarce.”

How the experiment works
The analog-astronauts’ skin and gut microbiome will be characterized before and after the mission. In addition, during the mission samples from the analog-astronauts will be collected at several time points. They will be stored and shipped to laboratories in order to analyze them. In consideration of the analog-astronauts’ health and hygiene as well as environmental factors such as temperature, humidity or radiation, microbiome-related health risks might be defined.
Consequently, based on the obtained data recommendations can be given in order to maintain a healthy microbiome of astronauts during space travel. If significant changes will be observed, countermeasures must be developed including probiotics-based therapies for microbiome stabilization before, during and after the mission.

Affiliation: Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Israel, Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station, Israel, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Monitoring microorganisms in order to reduce the risk of cross contamination
According to article IX of the Outer Space Treaty from 1967, Earth and other planets have to be preserved from cross contamination. It is thus important to protect the environment that will be researched as well as the Earth’s environment from backward contamination. Therefore, a four-person team from Israel will perform their project MICRO-POTENTIAL during the AMADEE-20 mission.
Research on contamination of space vehicles before launch has been done before. Likewise it has been determined, whether or not microorganisms can survive space conditions, e.g. high radiation levels, vacuum, low temperatures, etc. No one has, however, tried to look for cross contamination the way this team proposes to do: during an analog mission and by using microbiological as well as molecular analysis tools.
When the crew and their equipment arrive at the habitat in the Negev desert, they will already carry microbial communities on them. In contrast to these, there will also be microbial communities in the Ramon crater which have developed there. They are different from the crew’s organisms, because no human has ever been in the selected field of work before. Points in the crater will be chosen to get a clear understanding of those microbial communities. The communities in question, the ones brought by humans and the ones that evolved in the crater, will be statistically analyzed throughout the duration of the mission. As soon as the analog-astronauts interact with the environment, changes of microbial population will become discernible. This in turn will indicate that the new composition was not created by random processes but by the analog-astronauts’ activities. Hence, cross contamination has occurred.

Although it is not completely possible to remove contamination, since some microorganisms can survive very harsh conditions, monitoring microbiological elements is relevant. The crew and mission control should know which microorganisms they have brought with them. Through samples and analysis, they will know if something new was introduced to the researched environment. Thus, the experiment team will be able to determine who is spreading the microorganisms where to and for how long. Astrobiologist and PI of this project Reut S. Abramovich, PhD, imagines a possible future scenario: “The first human crew lands on Moon or Mars. They will undoubtedly bring with them their own body associated microbiota, gut microbes, skin microbes. Their spaceship will probably also include microbes on the walls, shelves, equipment, space suits etc. due to human contact. Now imagine they have come to investigate a cave on Mars, and that cave will include endemic microorganisms. This will undoubtedly force the human crew to be meticulous and careful in their assessment of the microorganisms they have encountered. We would need to monitor the spread of microbes in both directions: from the human crew to the environment – via their spacesuit segments, rovers or other equipment – and from the environment onto the human crew.”

Keeping the analog astronauts healthy by tracking bowel movements

For the MOVE-experiment, the analog astronauts will track their bowel movements by reporting the frequency and consistency of their own stool on a daily basis. Their data will be submitted to the mission support center’s medical team once a week, unless there is a medical issue that requires immediate reporting. That way, the crew’s health will be ensured throughout the analog Mars mission. Furthermore, results from this project can be used to create more efficient prevention strategies for future planetary (analog) missions.

Principal Investigator, Dr. Tricia L. Larose, believes this is an understudied area that could have a big impact on analog astronaut health and well-being. Together with the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), she is also creating a school outreach program in order to raise public awareness. Everyone should be familiar with factors that can impact their bowel movements as these changes might have negative impacts on one’s health. The sooner one notices changes, the sooner one can do something about it. Various factors such as diet, dehydration or increased stress could be responsible for a different frequency, consistency or color of the stool. Diarrhea or blood in the stool may indicate an infection.

How the experiment works
To gain a better understanding of the effects so-called “environmental stressors” have on bowel function, an analog mission is the ideal opportunity. The following stressors can easily impact the health and wellness of the crew, resulting in abnormal bowel movements:

• high stress
• isolation and confinement
• changes in air, water and food
• living in close quarters with multiple people for a long period of time
• sharing spacesuits
• desert environment
• stressed immune system
• infection

The analog astronauts will monitor their bowel movement daily. They know how healthy and unhealthy bowel movements look because of the Bristol Stool Scale for Children (Figure 1). The experiment is using the scale for children, rather than the one for adults, because it is colorful and humorous, and because the outreach program in schools will use the same version of the scale. The scale seen below will be attached to the inside of all toilet doors in the habitat. As soon as an analog astronaut notices an unhealthy bowel movement, they will report it to the medical team. If necessary, medical care will be provided.
Results of MOVE will have an impact on preparing for future missions as well as on our daily life.

MOVE goes to School!
As mentioned before, an outreach program has been created. It is called “MOVE goes to School!””. For this campaign, experts will visit several elementary schools in Austria in order to inform children about bowel movements and how to monitor them. Students will also learn what to do to ensure healthy bowel movements, like drinking enough water, exercising, talking about it, etc.

Movement, Space and Group-health in a confined area
Affiliation:Eco-encounter therapy program in Eco-encounter Study Institute, Israel and Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.

Analyzing the impact of isolation on a group’s psychological health
During AMADEE-20, a team from Israel will take a closer look at the individual psychological state of the analog-astronauts and the group’s health in general. MSG is a study conducted by a team of Israeli experts during AMADEE-20 aimed to investigate possible ways for the crew of a long mission in space to mitigate the detrimental psychological effects of long-term confinement using the limited space allowed in such missions. By embedding sensors in the habitat, the MSG-team will be able to monitor movement patterns of the analog astronauts. Analyzing individual movement, combined with group and individual performance and wellbeing, the researchers seek patterns of the use of space that facilitate group well-being.

“Confined places have a detrimental effect on health and especially on mental health. Sharing a confined space with others can help with some of the issues of confinement but also presents new challenges. This is especially challenging in long missions, where social interactions are more dynamic and more influential.”, explains the project leader David Michaeli, “In the area of behavioral health, emotional constructs need to be researched to the same extent as other factors such as attention and fatigue”, explains the principal investigator David Michaeli, “In the area of behavioral health, emotional constructs need to be researched to the same extent as other factors such as attention and fatigue”

How the experiment works
For this experiment, three new questionnaires have been developed for the analog-astronauts to fill out before, during, and after the mission. One of the questionnaires was developed to be filled daily, using a hand-held device. The questionnaires collect reports of group and personal well-being as well as other social indicators. In addition to the self-report data, sensors will be embedded on the analog Astronauts to record their position in the mock spacecraft throughout the mission. Location data automatically collected periodically will be analyzed to discern mutually correlated movement to learn how the team utilized the limited space in order to maintain healthy group functioning, and how personal and group crises might affect use of space.

Expected Outcomes
The study is expected to benefit future planning of missions in two distinct ways. First, it offers a novel outlook at the components that constitute healthy and productive social environment, and the way confinement and isolation might affect it. Second, by studying movement on the individual level, the experts search for environmental factors that allow the team to maintain healthy group mentality and to alleviate tension when it arises. These insights could be used in planning confined spaces later on in a way that will alleviate some of the stress that accompanies such social conditions.

Affiliaton: Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station (D-MARS), Israel
During the four-week Mars-analogue mission AMADEE-20 of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), the crew is accommodated in the D-MARS habitat, which consists of two units: the housing unit and the central unit where the work of the analog astronauts will be performed. While the building for the housing unit has been operational for a couple of years, the building for the work area is currently under development. The experiment will collect data to improve the design and operation of such habitats.

How the experiment works
Since the habitat itself is the essential platform for the Mars simulation, it will also be examined in more detail in the OGH experiment. OGH is the acronym for “Off-Grid Habitation,” which is a living space that is not dependent on other systems or resources. A wide range of data will be collected during the mission, including data from sensors located in the habitat, routine reports, and questionnaires. These will be analyzed after the mission.
„”The results of the OGH experiment will be published and we hope that the data, methods and conclusions will be useful for the design and preparation of future habitat design and operations planning,” explains project leader Hilel Rubinstein, “D-MARS will use the results to refine and modify our future Mars base-station concept and design. This is important because there is currently no operational habitat for a planetary space mission.”

Affiliaton: Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), University of Bremen, Germany

During the Mars-analog mission AMADEE-20 of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), the experiment POLLY investigates the possible use of a so-called “conversational user interface” (CUI). A CUI is an interface that mimics a conversation between a user and another person, like a chatbot on a website would. Thus, people can communicate with a computer as if it were a real person. In this experiment, written communication is analyzed and recorded throughout the mission.

About the use of Conversational User Interfaces” (CUI)
Guidelines for CUIs were developed decades ago. While studies of how humans interact with CUIs in everyday scenarios are very recent, there is little research on how such interfaces can be used in other or more extreme environments. Extraterrestrial habitats are examples of such extreme environments. There, CUIs should support astronauts in their demanding long-term missions, especially in research-related tasks during spaceflight or planetary exploration missions. The team of researchers at the University of Bremen therefore wants to use the POLLY experiment to find out what a CUI must be able to do in order to be of valuable support during mission-critical tasks.

How the experiment works
By analyzing all written communication between the analog astronauts at analog Mars in Israel, the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, and the on-site support team in Israel, the possible use of a conversational interface during a mission is determined. This is because many requests directed to the Mission Support Center could be directed to a CUI instead. Therefore, the subsequent evaluation of the mission communication will help to understand how such an interface could support the crew.

“The data obtained from the written communication will form the basis for a CUI prototype that can be used to support astronauts in future missions,” explains project leader Dr. Christiane Heinicke, “Moreover, the experiment already bears the appropriate name POLLY, which is derived from the English word “polymath”- a person with broad knowledge.”

Studies about crew anxiety and depression during the AMADEE-20- mission
In extreme situations like analog Mars missions, even the strongest individual might face psychological challenges at some point. Amongst other things, reasons for this could be isolation, confinement, monotony of food, scientific failures during the mission or sleep difficulties. In order to understand the psychological well-being of the analog astronauts, the project PSYCHSCALE was created. It aims to study crew anxiety and depression levels before, during, and after the mission with special attention to the “third quarter phenomenon”.

The third quarter phenomenon
Based on the idea that the human behavior and health can change due to the above mentioned factors, the different stages of the mission can be classified and characterized as follows:

Quarter 1: heightened excitement, nervousness or anxiety
Quarter 2: settling down to routine, monotony
Quarter 3: emotional outbursts, aggressiveness, rowdy behavior
Quarter 4: preparation for the end of the mission and focus on reunification with friends and family and the “real” world
Researchers suggest that around the third quarter of a mission, emotional outbursts of individuals are increasing and their behavior is becoming rowdier and more aggressive. But this does not apply to all individuals in an isolated group. Therefore, the third quarter phenomenon is still a well-debated concept amongst researchers.

How the experiment works
In order to understand possible changes in psychological well-being of an analog astronaut, each of them will answer one individual questionnaire before, during, and after the Mars analog mission takes place in Israel. During the mission, the analog astronauts will be asked to fill out the same questionnaire once a week. In total, they will have to answer out six questionnaires. The questionnaires will be delivered to all of the analog astronauts at the same time. This way, the PSYCHSCALE team can also track the overall crew anxiety and depression levels when analyzing the questionnaires. By working with the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria, which monitors the mission, it will also be possible to identify some reasons for increased anxiety or depression, for example: poor air quality in the habitat.
“In addition to support during the mission, we hope to be able to suggest definitive mechanisms that can be implemented by mission support to ensure health and safety of the crew before and after the mission”, states the principal investigator of this project Dr. Tricia L. Larose.

Affiliaton: Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne, Germany

Detect eye problems at an early stage
Eye changes may occur in astronauts during their spaceflight missions. One example is a swelling of the optic nerve head, which has appeared in many astronauts on long-term ISS missions. Today, these eye changes are called “spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome” or “SANS” for short. Although there has been a lot of progress in the research of this syndrome in recent years, a lot still remains unexplained.
A team consisting of researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Astronaut Center (EAC) will therefore test an eye diagnostic device during the Mars analog mission AMADEE-20. This is intended to determine the feasibility of using this device to detect and mitigate potential eye problems in isolated and extreme environments, like Mars.

How the experiment works
An analog astronaut holds the device in his/her hands and examines the eye of another crew member. Light is used to capture images of the retina, which explains the name of the experiment “RETINA”. One run takes about 15-25 minutes and is to be performed for a total of three times during the mission. The examination is non-contact and non-invasive.

This experiment is particularly important as minimally invasive monitoring of astronauts’ physiological parameters will be improved, especially during long-duration space flights. In addition, space-based medical data acquisition systems will be optimized. Project leader Dr. Claudia Stern is excited about the mission: “We will use the analog Mars environment provided by OeWF during AMADEE-20 to collect data on the operational capability of the device. This data will help us further develop the eye diagnostic capabilities.”

Affiliation: IMS laboratory, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Cognitique, Bordeaux INP, France in collaboration with Association Planète Mars

Find your way even in unknown terrain with the right communication
One could almost take this as the motto of the team from France, which will participate in the AMADEE-20 mission with a highly significant experiment. It is called SHARE. Six members, among them one professor and five students, are involved in this trial that addresses common challenges concerning communication, navigation, and perception.

It is known that the description of a location is rather difficult, since definitions of the surroundings and orientation information are mostly approximate and subjective. An expert in human factors addressed this issue in an experiment with soldiers in the field. After a simulation, several soldiers were asked to determine the location of their opponents on a map. Depending on the efficiency of communication among soldiers, the results varied. After reading this study, the SHARE team came to the conclusion that this problem in particular can be examined during Mars Analog missions, like AMADEE-20. In the course of the mission, the analog astronauts in Israel will have to communicate with the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck and follow their directions.
Principal investigator Prof. Jean-Marc Salotti explains how this experiment will work: “One person in the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck will be selected. That person will be in charge to define a location in the field, trace a path on a map and write a list of navigation instructions to reach that destination. Then, the analog astronaut will receive the message but not the map with the path. He or she will have to drive a quad and try to follow the written instructions. GPS information will be provided to the Mission Support Center in Innsbruck. That way, we can evaluate the differences between the path described and the actual path the analog astronaut followed.” The team already gained some experience on this topic by having used a virtual terrain of Mars and a virtual rover. As one can see on the pictures below, the results can vary significantly.

Trials like those are helpful for future planetary exploration missions, as the SHARE-team points out three good reasons:
First, the definition of geographical terms can be made more explicit and agreed upon by everyone.
Second, new technical terms or expressions may eventually be added and others discarded, as in aviation for communication between flight control and the pilot.
Third, training in analog terrain can help a lot in finding the best way to communicate geographical and navigation information.

A wind-driven, rolling rover explores large areas
Affiliation: Technical University of Vienna, Austria

About the Team
To take part in ESA’s Odysseus Space Contest 2017, three students from the Sir Karl Popper School in Vienna developed the rover TUMBLEWEED. They won the contest and later two of the founders moved to the United States and the Netherlands for their studies. As a result, more and more interested parties from different countries joined the team, so that it now consists of 57 members. The device is constantly being further developed in order to be able to participate in future Mars missions. But before this will be possible, a number of components still need to be tested and checked. For this purpose, the team will participate in the Mars-Analog Mission AMADEE-20 by the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF).

About the rover
TUMBLEWEED is the English name of a shrub that can travel long distances driven by wind only. The TUMBLEWEED rover measures more than 2m in diameter and has adopted the shrub’s round shape and wind-driven mode of movement. Sara Toth, spokesperson for Team TUMBLEWEED, says: “Wind driven means in our case that it is not possible to control the rolling rover and we therefore don’t need a remote control. The idea is to deploy the rover at the poles of Mars and then let the wind drive it towards the equator. This allows large areas of Mars to be “rolled off” and examined more closely with the help of cameras, atmospheric sensors and magnetometers that can be installed in TUMBLEWEED.”
During the Mars Analog Mission, the main focus will be on testing the rover’s rolling and wear behavior and evaluating the performance of its solar cells. Such data is important for the further development and improvement of the rover, as the AMADEE-18 mission has already shown. “The AMADEE-18 mission enabled us to identify materials as well as solar cells that are unsuitable for the rover. This knowledge helped us to develop our subsequent prototype. During the upcoming AMADEE-20 mission we hope to obtain further data on the wear behavior of our current prototype”, explains Sara Toth.
Once TUMBLEWEED is brought to perfection and ready for a Mars mission, other scientists will also have the opportunity to integrate their own sensors into the rover with little effort.
Website: www.teamtumbleweed.eu

Validity and Feasibility of Remote extended Focused Assessment Sonography in Trauma
Affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Örebro University Hospital, Sweden and University Hospital of Cologne, Germany

Ultrasound examination in space by using an instructional video
Astronauts usually come from a lot of different fields of expertise with a variable knowledge of specific topics. They must be able to cover a lot of different tasks and challenges they might encounter during their space mission. However, sometimes a very specific qualification is required, for example medical skills. Although it is expected that a future Mars crew will have at least one medical professional onboard, this will not always be the case. That is why ÖWF’s analog-astronauts will test the research project called “VFR-eFAST” during the ÖWF’s Mars analog mission in Israel in October 2021. With VFR-eFAST, astronauts might be able to perform an ultrasound examination with minimal previous medical training.
The team wants to investigate whether it is possible for a non-medically trained astronaut to perform an ultrasound examination of the thorax and abdomen with a clinically acceptable quality.
Since there is a risk of the astronauts losing connection to the Mission Support Centre, or simply being too far away to receive live medical guidance, the idea is that they should be able to execute such a task based on a short video instruction only.
The experiment is significant because of the unique setting of a Mars analog mission, and also because of its focus on remoteness and isolation, which will be huge factors when we eventually venture on to the Red Planet.
Once the analog-astronauts are done with the task by using the Philips Lumify ultrasound equipment, the results will be analyzed in a standardized way to reveal accuracy and usefulness of the examination. Factors like image quality and the time it took the analog-astronauts to find the correct view will be taken into account.
By asking what the expected outcomes are, principal investigator Dr. Anton Ahlbäck answers: “We expect to see that all of the analog astronauts will be able to successfully perform the examination.” If that is the case, it will have positive impacts on future Mars missions, as he concludes: “With the right results, this experiment has the potential to contribute significantly to the development of similar systems, which in turn could be used in future crewed space missions.”