Training for analog mars simulations

Abstract

The Austrian Space Forum (ÖWF) is a citizen science organization with one of the most significant experience in Europe in Analog Mars Simulations. Since its establishment in 1999 it has developed a deep knowledge and understanding of simulated missions to Mars, culminating in six major field missions organized between 2006 and 2015 between Europe, North America and Africa. It is the only organization in Europe with a permanent Analog Astronaut Corp and, in order to support the field missions, an established Mission Support Center with trained personnel. Since the last mission, a 15 days long simulation in the Kaunertal glacier in Austria (AMADEE 15), and in preparation for the upcoming one, a month long expedition in Oman (AMADEE 18), a training program has been prepared and implemented to develop and train the skills of the volunteers who will support the mission from both the field and the Mission Support Center. This training flow is developed in parallel with the dedicated one for the Analog Astronauts, which consists of a basic training in the major areas of technical skills and emergency training supplemented by a continuous physical training, nutritional coaching, media and education and outreach activities. In addition, mission specific training is added in preparation for the major field missions, approximately one year prior to the start of the activities and progressively refined as soon as the scientific program is finalized. The training program for the Mission Support center personnel is articulated in two major milestones, which are 3 days long face to face courses held in Innsbruck, where the ÖWF headquarter and the Mission Support Center are located; those are respectively an Analog Mission Basic Training (AMBT) and an Analog Mission Advanced Training (AMAT). As said, the ÖWF is a citizen science organization open to students, professionals and in general targeting anyone with an interest in space, therefore there is a variety of backgrounds and skills, which have to be considered and integrated in the training preparation. In order to set a common level of initial knowledge, the first part of the AMBT course is developed as an online series of lectures, introducing the ÖWF history and some generic concepts on the different teams working for an analog mission, namely the Flight Control Team, Flight Planning, Remote Science Support, Information technology, Media, Field and Ground Support. In addition, some introductory readings on planetary exploration and Mars Mission Design, including the PolAres manifest, which is the interdisciplinary program lead by the ÖWF to prepare for a future robotic-human Mars mission. The concepts learned in the online part of the course are then exploited during the fact to face part of the course, in which additional communication skills are developed in preparation for the first analog Simulation, in which the participants are getting a first introduction to the Mission Support Center consoles and tools. In the same timeframe the students receive the first introduction to the Aouda Spacesuit, which is used by the Analog Astronauts during the simulated Extra-Vehicular Activities and can experience the donning and doffing as a generic task which they will support daily during a mission simulation. The knowledge acquired during the AMBT course is tested in two steps: once after the first set of online lectures and preparatory readings and then at the end of the face to face part where the students are also asked to reflect on their performance during the Simulation. The Advanced training contains a few more in depth lessons related to other important aspects of an Analog mission, such as Meteorology, Safety, Space Politics and Law and becomes more specific for the role the participant is expected to take during the mission; the group is divided in three subgroups, each one covering the aspects of Flight Planning, Flight Control Team and Field respectively. The final day of the AMAT face to face training is simulating almost an entire day of EVA during an Analog Mission, including some science experiment execution, and the students are practicing their skills and applying their recently acquired knowledge on the Operational products, tools and communication. For this advanced phase, the knowledge is tested by means of a questionnaire at completion of the online part and through the preparation of a thesis topic, assigned by the lecturers and Team Leads to each participant. Through the entire study a special relevance is also given to the psychological aspects of the Analog Mission, both as a subject to be taken into consideration while communicating to a group of people which is located on a different planet and with the introduction of the time delay, but also as a way to address each participant to the group where his/her personality and skills fit better and can be exploited to the maximum level. The interactions between Mission Support Center, field and Analog Astronauts are practiced prior to a major field mission during specific integrated Dress Rehearsals; each one of them has a specific objective and is aimed to train certain skills: the first one is centered on experiment qualification and operation, the second on procedures and contingency operation and the last one on science and experiments. They all consist of a few days of co-location in Innsbruck where the different teams have the opportunity to get to know each other and build the relationships which will be essential for a smooth and productive environment during the mission execution. The most promising students graduated from the AMAT training program are then invited by the Board to pursue a career path into the organization, becoming, after a dedicated leadership training, members of the Flight Directors team or the equivalent into the field, the Field Commander. The training concepts described above have been applied successfully to 2 classes of AMBT/AMAT graduates, one in 2016 and one in 2017; in addition, due to its success, an additional AMBT course is planned to be completed before the end of 2017; this approach has guaranteed to the Austrian Space Forum a relevant number of trained volunteers which are ready to be assigned to their duties and start the final preparation for the mission specific topics of AMADEE 18 in Oman.